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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: "FBI OFFICE USA" <@official.com@assytool.com>
Reply-To: officeheadfbi@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2022 08:34:31 -0500
Subject: CLAIM YOUR COMPENSATION FUND
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FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI)
CLAIM YOUR COMPENSATION FUND
FROM UNITED STATE GOVERNMENT.
My name is Ryan T Young from Federal Bureau of investigation,
I want to inform you that we discovered you have being scammed by some
people who claim to have your fund/Package and we bring good news to you
today that we are after the people that took your money. We need your
cooperation so we can arrest them and the Government is ready to
compensate you with $5 million dollars for helping us and also to recover
all you have lose so far.
Kindly reply back to me with your information as soon as you receive this
email so that you can claim your compensation from the United State
Government worth $5 million Dollars.
Thank you.
FBI Ryan T Young
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Anti-fraud resources:
