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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)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Miss Ruth James <ruthjames700000@gmail.com>
Reply-To: ruthjames19990@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2022 20:34:09 +0000
Subject: FROM MISS RUTH JAMES
FROM MISS RUTH JAMES
My name is Miss Ruth James compaore I am working with one of the
prime banks in Abidjan Cote D' Ivoire located in West Africa. Here in
this bank existed a dormant account for many years, which belonged to
one of our late foreign customers. The amount in this account stands
at $ 30 million dollars US Dollars)
I want a foreign account where the bank will transfer this fund. I
know you would be surprised to read this message, especially from
someone relatively unknown to you. But, do not worry yourself so much.
This is a genuine, risk free and legal business transaction.
Further details of the transfer will be forwarded to you as soon as i
receive your response.
Regards
Miss Ruth James.
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Anti-fraud resources:
