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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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a "dying widow" 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.
- mrs.rebeccadouglasmerminasies@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Rebecca Douglas Hermina Sies <officefilles03@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrs.rebeccadouglasmerminasies@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2021 23:59:34 +0100
Subject: Good day my beloved friend
ood day my beloved friend,
I am a dying woman who has decided to donate what I have to
you/church. My name is Mrs. Rebecca Douglas Hermina Sies. I am 57
years old and I was diagnosed with cancer for about 2 years now. This
started immediately after the death of my husband, who has left me
everything he worked for and because the doctors told me I will not
live longer than some weeks due to my health. I decided to donate my
family inheritance (TWENTY SEVEN MILLION FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED
STATES DOLLAR) to you for the good work of humanity, and also to help
the motherless and less privilege and also for the assistance of the
widows.
Please if you would be able to use the Inheritance funds for the work
as my heart desires, kindly let me know by replying me through my
private email address { mrs.rebeccadouglasmerminasies@hotmail.com },
so i can direct you to my lawyer who will assist you in making the
claim from the bank where the funds is deposited, so you can retrieve
the funds.
May God bless you and your family as i wait for your kind reply.
Best regards.
From Your Loving Friend and Sister Mrs. Rebecca Douglas Hermina Sies.
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Anti-fraud resources:
