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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:
- "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)
- "million 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Peteriz Michael <peterizmichael4@gmail.com>
Reply-To: MARTIN405020@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2021 03:37:51 -0800
Subject: Attention Dear Beneficiary
My name is Mr martin
Alexander form (FMF)
office. You have a
consignment box
worth of $ 32.8
million dollars in
our office which
was sent to you by
Federal Ministry Of
Finance World
Compensation
(FMF) USA, you are
required to summit
the following
personal details
listed below to our
office via e-mail so
that your package
will be
delivered to you at
your door step
within 4hours
without any delay or
stoppage from
anybody. We would
like you to receive
the package within
this Month.
1.) Name:
2.) Address:
3) Occupation:
4) email address
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Anti-fraud resources:
