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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:
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "huge deposit" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr.James Albert" <jameslbert@gmail.com>
Reply-To: jamesalbert1515@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 28 May 2017 13:56:22 -0700
Subject: Good Day
Hello,
This notification memo has been sent to you three times without a response
from you and this will be the last time and I do hope you receive it? The
memo is about a deceased person who share the same surname with you and he
has a huge deposits at a Bank. The account holder died intestate and as
such has no successor in title over his huge wealth. Are you familiar with
this personality as you are being considered to inherit his assets as the
next of kin? Please reply with your answer for more details.
Thanks while I look forward to hearing from you soonest.
Best Regards.
Dr.James Albert
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Anti-fraud resources:
