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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:
- "hundred thousand us 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)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mr Wang <ecosystem.manainc@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mail.wanglee@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2022 15:38:09 -0800
Subject: TR
Estate of Engr. Terry Williams.
Dear beneficiary,
Please confirm your receipt of this mail because previous correspondence
has been sent to you but we did not get any response from you. Bear in mind
that no execution will be carried out without the endorsement of Rev Bonnie
H. Miller(the overseer of the church where he worshiped before his death
and me the attorney for the execution. On-behalf of the Trustees and
Executors of the Will of late Engr. Terry Williams (ksm), I wish to notify
you that you were listed as a beneficiary to the bequest of the sum of
[five Million five Hundred Thousand US Dollars] in the codicil and last
testament of the deceased.
Please inform me if you did receive this notification this time.
Yours faithfully
Lee Wang
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Anti-fraud resources:
