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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:
- "million united states dollars" (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 next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Booker Alexender" <alexender.bbbb@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: alexender.b@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2018 12:36:04 -0700
Subject: *****Re: Dear Sir/Madam*****
My Dear,
I am Mrs. Booker Alexender the wife of late Mr. Thomas Alexender We have
been married for years before his sudden death although we were childless.
I have been diagnosed with cancer and I have been battling with the
sickness when my late lovely husband was alive.
My Husband left the sum of US$3.200 million United States Dollars in a
fix/suspense account in one of the prime bank in Cote d’Ivoire. Recently,
my Doctor told me that I would not exceed more than five more months due
to cancer problem. The one that disturbs me most is my blood pressure
sickness. Having known my condition I decided to seek for your kind
assistance to transfer this fund into your account and you will use it to
train my adopted daughter who is 15yrs. You will take her as your God
child and brought her up in a good and decent manner with what my late
husband left behind.
I will give you more details about me and how I inherited all as soon as I
receive your reply because I do not want to state all here until I see
your reply, desire and commitment. Please can you treat this as
confidential and keep it as a secret for security reasons between both of
us. Make sure you get back to me with this email
My Best Regards.
Mrs. Booker Alexender
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Anti-fraud resources:
