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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.
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Western Union " <sansei@cello.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: "Western Union " <westernunonmoneytransfer603@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2017 00:27:18 +0900 (JST)
Subject: I NEED TO CONFIRM THAT THIS IS TRUTH BEFORE WE RELEASE YOUR FUNDS
TO THIS GENTLE MAN. THIS OFFICE WAS CONTACTED BY MR. SCOTT E.LOUK WHO
CLAIMED TO BE YOUR BROTHER. HE PROMISED TO PAY THE NEEDED FEE OF 60 USD
AND CLAIM THE FUND AS YOUR NEXT OF KIN. HE SAID THAT YOU WERE INVOLVED IN
A CAR ACCIDENT LAST WEEK AND DIE. WE NEED TO CONFIRM THAT YOU ARE TRULY
DEAD BEFORE WE CAN RELEASE THE FUND TO HIM. WE BELIEVED THAT YOU ARE DEAD
BUT AS A FEDERAL OFFICE, WE NEED A PROOF FOR RECORD PURPOSES BEFORE WE CAN
I NEED TO CONFIRM THAT THIS IS TRUTH BEFORE WE RELEASE YOUR FUNDS TO THIS GENTLE MAN. THIS OFFICE WAS CONTACTED BY MR. SCOTT E.LOUK WHO CLAIMED TO BE YOUR BROTHER. HE PROMISED TO PAY THE NEEDED FEE OF 60 USD AND CLAIM THE FUND AS YOUR NEXT OF KIN. HE SAID THAT YOU WERE INVOLVED IN A CAR ACCIDENT LAST WEEK AND DIE. WE NEED TO CONFIRM THAT YOU ARE TRULY DEAD BEFORE WE CAN RELEASE THE FUND TO HIM. WE BELIEVED THAT YOU ARE DEAD BUT AS A FEDERAL OFFICE, WE NEED A PROOF FOR RECORD PURPOSES BEFORE WE CAN RELEASE THE FUND TO HIM. THEREFORE, YOUR SILENT IS A CLEAR PROOF THAT YOU ARE DEAD. NOTE; WE WILL COMMENCE ON THE RELEASE OF YOUR FUNDS TO YOUR NEXT OF KIN WITHIN THE NEXT 3 WORKING DAYS.... MAY YOUR SOUL REST IN PERFECT PEACE,IF THEY ARE SAYING THE TRUTH. AMEN!!!.
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Anti-fraud resources:
