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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: JANET YELLEN <wellsfargobankm@gmail.com>
Reply-To: officefill36@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2021 12:50:34 -0800
Subject: GREETINGS
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GREETINGS
My name is Janet Yellen, The United States Secretary of the Treasury.
I'm contacting you to inform you that the newly elected president of
the United States Joe Biden has ordered the release of your
outstanding or compensation payment of $6.5 Million which was supposed
to be released to you in April 2019 but was delayed and made elusive
by the United States Treasury officials who are in charge of the
release of your fund in 2018. so am contacting you regarding how you
will receive these funds kindly confirm your details including your
Full name...
Home address...
Phone Number...
I requested above to avoid wrong proceeding of your funds. Thanks
Best regards,
Janet Yellen
United States Secretary of the Treasury
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Anti-fraud resources:
