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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: ""I WAIT TO READ FROM YOU" <buch@businessport.spb.ru>
Reply-To: cptWilliamSwenson@web.co.zw
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2017 18:52:09 -0700
Subject: HELLO MY FRIEND.
My Dear Friend,
I know this email message will definitely come to you as a huge surprise, but I implore you to take the time to go through it carefully as the decision you make will go off a long way to
determine my future and continued existence. Please keep this message top secret. (I am capt william swenson, a member of the United States Marine Corps) presently in Afghanistan. I am
desperately in need of your assistance and I have summoned up courage to contact you.
http://nypost.com/2016/05/15/we-wasted-113b-in-afghanistan-no-wonder-america-first-resonates/
https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-12-18/behold-american-taxpayer-what-happened-nearly-half-billion-your-dollars
Please go through the above link and get back to me.
Respectfully,
capt william swenson.
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Anti-fraud resources:
