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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- 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.
- mrh1013t@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Richard uche" <test@comstar.ru>>
Reply-To: richy609m@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2017 23:21:20 +1000
Subject: Re
Hello, It is such a pleasure for me to contact you and with respect. I am M=
r. Richard Uche a Nigerian citizen and financial consultant with a private =
finance and investment firm based here in Lagos- Nigeria, The firm has faci=
litated a lot of transactions for very high profile clients at home and abr=
oad. There is a client's of mine account that I have had to administer for =
the past six years. Although my client died in very unfortunate circumstanc=
es along with his family, before the catastrophe;He made a deposit with no =
existing beneficiaries with the Finance Firm that we can safely engage for =
investment funding before they are declared Unserviceable or reverted to th=
e government treasury as unclaimed funds.It is my mandate as clients' finan=
cial consultant to facilitate the release of this fund to a verified benefi=
ciary. I have decided to seek your assistance INDEPENDENTLY and have you re=
ceive this fund on my behalf. All the legal requirements will be fulfilled =
to have you as a proven beneficiary of the claim. The amount in question is=
sum of US$45m and you will gladly compensate with 40% after the deal is do=
ne while 10% for the Poor and Orphans. At your interest please send your de=
tails for further directive so that I can avail you with more information a=
nd the mutual benefits that will accrue. I hope you will understand the nat=
ure of this transaction, which has made me frugal with sensitive informatio=
n. E-mail: mrh1013t@gmail.com Best regards Mr.Richard uche Email: mrh1013t@=
gmail.com
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