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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:
- "the consignment" (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)
- "consignment " (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Frank Apple <lukewilliam991@gmail.com>
Reply-To: larryeric83@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2021 12:42:36 +0100
Subject: Attn; Dear Beneficiary,
--
THIS IS Mr Larry FROM FEDEX DELIVERY COMPANY I'M THE
LEGIT AGENT WHO IS IN CHARGE OF YOUR CONSIGNMENT BOX DELIVERY THE
CONSIGNMENT WHICH WORTH THE SUM OF $4.3 MILLION USD,THE DELIVERY WAS
HANDED OVER TO ME BY THE STATE GOVERNMENT DO TO THE DELAYING OF YOUR
PAST DIPLOMAT AGENT WHO CONTINUE TO ASK FOR MORE MONEY TO COMPLETE THE
DELIVERY TO YOU, BUT NOW EVERYTHING IS UNDER THE STATE GOVERNMENT AS
I'M TAKING TO YOU RIGHT NOW SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ANYMORE BECAUSE
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS DELIVERY IS NOW WELL LEGITIMATE AND READY TO BE
DELIVERED TO YOU SO
YOU HAVE TO KINDLY GET BACK TO ME WITH THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION
YOUR FULL NAME...........
YOUR HOME ADDRESS.......... Your country
OCCUPATION............
YOUR PHONE NUMBER....
A COPY OF YOUR ID......... YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
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Anti-fraud resources:
