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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 united states 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)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- cremersoliicitors@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: MR MALICK <victorwilliams6867@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrsambamalick@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2021 04:49:14 +0200
Subject: Dear lucky winner,
Dear lucky winner,
National lottery commission in conjunction with the FIRE LOTTO COMPANY
organization in poverty alleviation program has today drawn winning
lottery global awards in the regional and national centers .we are also
writing to let you know that after the final draw your email emerges as the
winner award price of 2.6 million united states dollars. Consequently the
said amount has been converted into a Visa card and deposited in the
custody of the security company for safety as directed by the FIRE LOTTO
COMPANY.
Contact Barrister Marcel Cremer through his email here (
cremersoliicitors@aol.com ) to claim your winning fund with your details as
follows : your full name, your country, your home address and your phone
number.
Sincerely
Mr. Malick Samba.
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Anti-fraud resources:
