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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 next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. james Johnson" <officeoffice5030@gmail.com>
Reply-To: meddyjohnson349@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2022 13:14:50 -0800
Subject: HELLO
--
Are you alive or dead? We received several emails from one Mr. james
Johnson who told us about the auto car accident you had a month
ago.Mr. Frank made us understand that you are in hospital for
treatment but there is no hope of your recovery. He stated that he is
your business associate and your next of kin whom you have chosen and
permitted to inherit all your properties. He is contacting this office
based on your contract / your Inheritance fund is worth
15.4millionwhich is about to be pay to you.If your still alive please
kindly contact us
Your Name______
Direct Phone Number_____
Home Address_____
Your occupation_______
nearest airport_____
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Anti-fraud resources: