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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 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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Lerynne West" <info@abc.com>
Reply-To: lerynnewest@web.bi
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2018 15:18:00 -0800
Subject: DONATION!!!(Lerynne West)
Good day, I am Lerynne West,i am 51 years old From Red field Iowa, a single mother of three and the recent winner of almost $350 million dollars in the Power ball Lottery, i won this lottery on 5th of November 2018 and I am writing to inform you that Google in alliance with Microsoft and GMX submitted your "Email" upon my request that you receive a donation amount of $1.7 million dollars.
As i wish to donate part of my Jackpot to people around the world and also veterans as I thank God for all he has been doing in my life so far.
I hope my donations can reach out to those that have been going through a lot financially.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/15/us/powerball-winner-donation-veterans-group-trnd/index.html
Please provide me with the following:
Full Names.............
Age....................
Address................
Tel....................
Occupation.............
Monthly income..............................
And a check for $1.7 million will be issued to you.
Sincerely,
Lerynne West
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Anti-fraud resources:
