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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.
Click here to report a problem with this page.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- donatusedem1@mail.com (Mail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: donatusedem1 <donatusedem1@onet.pl>
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2017 01:21:55 +0200
Subject:
Greetings,
I sent you an email before but no response from you,I contacted you about my deceased client who has the same surname as you. He died leaving behind the sum of $12.5M which is laying
dormant at the bank here. Please get back to me for further details.Reply to my private email address:(donatusedem1@mail.com) for guidelines on how to repatriate the funds.
Best Regards.
Barr. Donatu Sedem ESQ.
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Anti-fraud resources:
