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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:
- "% will be for you" (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: Mrs Valeria Sofia Rodriguez <stbzzuu@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrsvaleria_sofia@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2018 02:58:48 -0700
Subject: Dear Beloved Friend
Greetings,
I am Valeria Sofia Rodriguez, I am 65 years old base in Spanish I
write to relate to you of my intention to use my money Four million
five hundred thousand Euro for charity work in your country. I was
married to Late Fernández González RodrÃguez who was a contractor with
the Government of Spain before he died after few days in the hospital.
I have been suffering from cancer I want to know if I can trust you to
use these funds for charity/orphanage and 20% will be for you as
compensation.
Yours in the Lord,
Mrs Valeria Sofia Rodriguez
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Anti-fraud resources:
