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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Stephen Mensah" <stephmensah01@gmail.com>
Reply-To: stephenmensah03@naver.com
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2021 08:37:52 -0700
Subject: GREETINGS TO YOU
My name is Mr. Stephen Mensah I am the regional manager of the
Financial Institution Tema Accra Ghana, I got your information during
my search through the Internet.. I am searching for a reliable and
experienced business expert that can guide me in setting up a
lucrative business investment, so I decided to look for a tourism
country or secure country for this investment project. I write you
this proposal in good faith. I have a financial transaction that will
benefit both of us. I await your response to enable us to discuss this
business investment.
Please do not hesitate to contact me for more information and other
questions for further explanation.
Best Regards
Mr. Stephen Mensah
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Anti-fraud resources:
