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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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mrs Sara Benjamain <deborahkone77@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Mrs Sara Benjamain <mrssarabenjamain123@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2018 10:15:23 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: GOOD NEWS From Mrs. Sarah Benjamin.
My Dearest one
I am Mrs. Sara Benjamin, married to late Dr. Benjamin, Who died on 15 April 2015. I write to relate to you of my intention to use my Fund (£2.5, Million GBP) for charity work in your country.If you can be faithfully help and use my fund to care for the poor and less privilege in your country, I am waiting to read from you for more details on my intention to help the poor and the needy in your country.
Thanks
Mrs. Sara Benjamin.
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Anti-fraud resources:
