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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:
- "consignment " (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)
- "million united state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: MR WOLF <info@studioattiliogiove.com>
Reply-To: govinstruction77@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 09 Apr 2020 12:07:49 +0000
Subject: This is Chad F. Wolf
Greetings
This is Chad F. Wolf the current Secretary to the Homeland Security at Dc,
I’m contacting you regarding a Consignment box worth $8.5 million united
state dollars brought to my desk In Washington, D.C. to be signed and send
back to the originated country as unclaimed fund, As result of the
information I got, I told them to wait until I hear from you today so that
I'll know the reason why you rejected such amount of money which is your
compensation fund just because of the document.I need your urgent response
as soon as you receive my email and explain to me the reason why you have
abandoned your luggage, but if you don't need it then I can change your
name to another person here in united state so that this Government will
not claim this money. Get back to me right now.
Regards
Chad F. Wolf
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Anti-fraud resources:
