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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "L. Nanakobi" <admin@onescope.net>
Reply-To: <lawnana2@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2018 23:04:48 -0700
Subject: Your Non Payment.
Dear Friend,
How is your weekend going. Hope good. I just want to inform you that I have just started work with the Central Bank and I have information about why you have not been able to receive or complete your Long Overdue Fund transaction.
I know you have been deceived by the so called Nigerian Officials for long, they have extorted enough of your hard earned money from you and it is time to say enough to that.
So if you are willing to know, get back to me immediately with your private telephone number so that I can update the position of things and what need to be done so that you can finally receive and have access to your long overdue fund without any further hitch.
Thanks,
Lawrence Nanakobi
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Anti-fraud resources:
