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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:
- "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: "Mrs. Evelyn Jaxon" <evelynjaxon3@gmail.com>
Reply-To: evelynjaxon04@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 2 Jul 2022 16:42:19 +0100
Subject: FUND DONATION
Greetings, How are you and your family
I'm Mrs. Evelyn Jaxon, Please i have a fund donation of $2.800,000
Million Dollars that I want to donate through you for charity and
orphanage purposes.
I have been sick with cancer of the blood that cost my retirement from
my job and was admitted to hospital for treatment and I'm afraid of
losing this fund to the wicked people.
I will be happy to hear from you soon to give you more information
about this fund.
Regards From
Mrs. Evelyn Jaxon
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Anti-fraud resources:
