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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 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)
- "my names are " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr Andrew J. Whittaker Jr" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ericjames7785@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2021 03:31:55 +0200
Subject: Congratulations.
My names are Andrew J. Whittaker Jr I am the winner of Powerball third-largest lottery jackpot in United States history US$315Milliom in 2012. And due to the Covid-19 Padamic situation the world is currently going through, we have decided to donate a palliatives/ relief funds of $2.5 million US Dollars each to 10 individuals worldwide as part of our own Support to the World. To verify out previous donations please see our interview by visiting the web page below:
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/27/us/after-winning-315-million-man-vows-to-spread-wealth.html
Your email address was among the emails which were submitted to us by the
Google, Inc as a web user; if you have received our email please, kindly
send us the below details so that we can direct our bank to effect the transfer of the funds to your operational bank account in your country, congratulations.
Full Name:
Mobile No:
Age:
Country:
Best Regards,
Mr Andrew J. Whittaker Jr
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Anti-fraud resources:
