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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:
- "hundred thousand us 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)
- "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Jeffrey Berman" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jeffreyberman19@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2019 03:38:29 +0100
Subject:
Hello Beloved, I Need Your Urgent Assistance. I'm Jeffrey Berman, am 66 years old. Following my ill health, I have just been informed by my doctor that I only have few months to live due to cancer illness and I am about to end the race like this without a child. I decided to donate Six Million and Five hundred Thousand US Dollars to you to promote charity works. I.e. assisting the less privileged. send a note back with this ref. SvaSo back so I know you got this.
Humbly and sincerely
Mr. Jeffrey Berman
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Anti-fraud resources:
