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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: "Mrs.Helen A.Thompson" <hon.williamaliwoesq@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrshelenathompson7@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2020 04:51:54 -0800
Subject: Urgent Response
My Divine Friend ,
I am Mrs. Helen A. Thompson from United States of America by Birth but
an European by Origin and my contacting you is divine connection. I am
a widow and writing this e-mail from hospital. Having been a cancer
patient here for over 4 months in Oklahoma, USA, now the doctors have
told me clearly that I will not survive this disease that I have just
little time to live on Earth or undergo urgent surgery with 50%
chances of survival. So, I decided to invest my late husband fund ($
21 Million Dollars) to the Motherless Babies Foundation for charity
use in your Country because i have already donated alot here which i
wanted my own people to benefit from it .
My mind and spirit led me to donate these fund to you so that you
could use it wisely to help the needy, the Widows and the Motherless
Babies over there.
Please, all I need from you is your utmost honesty and sincerity only
to help me achieve this dream and project in your Country as my last
wish. Please contact me if you are capable of handling it perfectly
and if you are not capable to do not bother to respond.
I am very serious about this and it's very urgent because of my life
is short and i do not know when death will come.
Thanking you in advance for your cooperation and your urgent response
Mrs.Helen A.Thompson
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Anti-fraud resources:
