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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: Mrs Grace winston <mrsgrace721@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrsgracewinston03@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2022 13:32:27 +0100
Subject: My dear friend
Dear
I know that this email will surprise you because we did not have any
communication before, but the message comes from the heart. This
charitable project was organized between my deceased husband and I
three years before his death. Since I have no children, I have
promised my late husband to start a charitable foundation for poor and
less privileged children with the sum (18 million euros).
I recently decided on a diagnosis of blood cancer and the doctor said
that I am less than 8 weeks old. I'm in the hospital now. My current
state of health does not allow me to fulfill this vow that I made for
my late husband on his deathbed. Although I believe in the miracle of
healing, I want to secure this money through donations.
I am sending you this message with the request to give your name to my
bank so you can receive this money and use it for charities. Send your
answer as soon as possible so I can tell you all the details. Time is
important
Yours sincerely
Mrs Grace Winston
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Anti-fraud resources:
