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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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)
- "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.
- 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.
- gomezmaria00185@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: maria <okstjsjdsu@gmail.com>
Reply-To: gomezmaria00185@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2021 03:09:59 +0100
Subject: maria
Greetings Dear
I am Mrs. Maria Gomez from Los Angeles USA, an ageing widow suffering
from long time illness breast Cancer and Cancer of the lungs. I have
(Four million United States Dollars ) which I inherited from my late
husband, my late husband deposited this amount in one of the security
bank in Spain which I need a very honest and God fearing person who
can receive this funds for Charity works and building an orphanage for
the homeless and orphans. Please if you would be able to use the funds
as I instructed, kindly let me know immediately. Respond quickly for
further details if you can handle this task.
Regards,
Mrs Maria Gomez
I will like you to send the following information to me so that I can
forward the same to the bank and officially introduce you as the new
beneficiary of the money.
(1) Your Full name...................
(2) Your Full address................
(3) Your telephone.......
(4) Your Age/Occupation..............
(5) Your banking Details.............
God bless you as I hope to hear from you soon.
you can reach me on this email gomezmaria00185@gmail.com
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