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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:
- "% will be for you" (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 next of kin scam.
- 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.
- gb528796@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: george brown <missdonnahistory@gmail.com>
Reply-To: gb528796@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2021 15:48:44 +0200
Subject:
Hello
My name is george brown I am a lawyer by profession. I want to offer you
the next of kin of my client. You inherit the sum of ($ 8.5 million)
Dollars that my client left in the bank before his death.
My client is a citizen of your country who died in a car accident with his wife
and only son. I am entitled to 50% of the total fund, while 50% will
be for you.
Please contact my private email here for more details:gb528796@gmail.com
Thanks in advance,
Mr. George Brown,
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Anti-fraud resources:
