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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:
- "dear beloved," (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "search for a reliable person" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million british pounds" (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)
- "contact me immediately" (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: "Mr. Albert Truswell" <copia@stpwf.com>
Reply-To: albert.truswell017@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2021 22:12:00 -0400
Subject: Donation For Humanitarian Support!!
Dear Beloved,
Compliment of the day, May I have the pleasure of introducing myself ? I am Mr. Albert Joshua Truswell, I am an 82 years old British dying man suffering from cancer disease for some years now. I got your contact details after an extensive online search for a reliable person to entrust funds for charity works.
I have decided to donate my social fund 5.8Million British Pounds (Five million eight hundred thousand British Pounds) to you for charity works as I do not have a wife, family or children that can inherit these funds when I am gone. So I request you to contact me immediately for more details if you are interested in carrying out this project so that I will arrange the release of the funds to you from the bank before I join my ancestors.
Thank you and God bless you.
Mr. Albert Truswell
Cancer Patient
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Anti-fraud resources:
