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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: "John Blair" <johnblair@live.com>
Reply-To: "John Blair" <john-blair@live.com>, john-blair@live.com
Date: Tue, 19 May 2020 23:34:39 +0800
Subject: FROM JOHN
My name is John Blair i am 25 years of age and a professional Football player, The doctors confirmed i have tested positive for the coronavirus and i am presently in isolation under supervision of some good doctors, my girl friend and best friend died last week no family left and just yesterday the doctors told me i have a couple of days left therefore i am giving out my life savings so if you are reading this message you have been chosen to receive US$2 Million through my financial consultant you should use part of this money to help in the fight against this deadly COVID-19 anyone you can help save as many life as you can.
I hope to get your response for further instructions on how to receive the fund before it is too late.
Thank you
John
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Anti-fraud resources:
