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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:
- "consignment " (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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Leland Jerome" <careis@gmail.com>
Reply-To: diplelandjerome@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2017 13:42:57 -0500
Subject: Re: INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR DELIVERY...
Hello Sir,
I am Diplomat Leland Jerome, here in United States, i got a consignment
(PACKAGE) to be delivered to your address, but do understand that before
the delivery could be completed, you are to reconfirm your full details
such as your
Name
Full Address
Phone Number
Driver's License
This is to ensure that it correspond with the details i have here for the
delivery. So do note that this delivery will take effect within 24hours as
soon as i receive the required details
Thanks
Dip. Leland Jerome
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Anti-fraud resources:
