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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 Money Transfer <aciab@abaetemg.com.br>
Reply-To: <w.umoneytransfe1@outlook.com>
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2017 04:44:37 -0700
Subject: Urgent Response
--
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 75 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:
