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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Marlene Dillon" <mrgeorgebrown2020@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrsmarlenedillo012@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2021 22:16:38 -0600
Subject: Hi..!!!
Dear Friend,
I am Mrs. Marlene Dillon,a banker with HSBC United Kingdom. I will be
glad to exhibit some good business that deals with huge amount of
money which will be invested into establishment and building of less
privilege home as to help the poor orphans in your jurisdiction.Based
on that i have a woman who is bed ridden here in Uk whom the late
husband deposited Seven Million Great Britain Pounds which the late
husband got from gold dust business he had supply with Singapore and
France merchant.
Right now the depositor is late and the wife is bed ridden as she is a
breast cancer patient and the doctor informed her last week that she
will undergo surgical operation which the result will be 50/50 and
base on that, she wants me to look for a God fearing person that will
invest it into helping the orphan in your country.Can you be able to
handle this great huge amount investment? If yes, kindly assure me
that you will be sincere and honest throughout this deal and you will
be the investor hence am not business oriented and remember this
transaction is percent risk free.Can you reconfirm the under listed
information below:
Full Name
Full Address
Telephone Number
Thanks and God bless you while I await your speedy response.
Mrs. Marlene Dillon
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