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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: TROY MILLER <julietonwubuche@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrtroymiller1@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2022 14:06:52 -1000
Subject: Dear Email I'D Owner
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I’m Mr. Troy Miller Custom Director from city government office in
Washington DC.
I’m contacting you today to inform you about your compensation fund
worth the sum of $18million dollars in our office. According to our
records, you are one of the beneficiaries that have not receive their
compensation fund awarded to you by the federal government, as corona
Virus pandemic relief.
I want you to get back to me as soon as you receive my email so that
we can proceed to make sure you receive your $18 million as soon as
possible. Please reconfirm the information below:
Full name
Home address
Phone number
ID card/ passport.
Once you confirm this required information to me I will let you know
how we will possibly send you this $18million USD.
Best regards,
Mr. Troy Miller
Custom Director
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Anti-fraud resources:
