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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:
- "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: Fatma Muhammad <tehal30@gmail.com>
Reply-To: faty.muhamad@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2021 11:44:55 +0000
Subject: Hello Dear
Hello Dear
My name is Ms. Fatima Muhammad., Please forgive me for stressing you
with my predicaments and I sorry to approach you through this media
because is serves the fastest means of my communication right now, I
came across your email contact from my personal search and I decided
to contact you believing you will be honest to fulfill my business
proposal which I believe that will be a very good opportunity for both
of us
Please it is my pleasure to contact you today for a business
partnership investments projects worth $4.6 million USD which I intend
to establish in your country. I inherited the $4.6 million USD from
my late Father who is a real estate property management and
construction company owner, my late father used my name as his only
child for the next of kin.
Please kindly reply back to me so that I will tell you more
information and the details on how to proceed further to receive the
money, I will offer you 30% of the money for your help and efforts.
Pls If this business investment proposal offends your moral and ethic
values do accept my apology. therefore kindly contact me immediately
if you are interested for more details. I will be looking forward to
read from you before end of today.
Thank you for your wiliness
Yours Sincerely Fatima Muhammad
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Anti-fraud resources:
