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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.Sambo Ali" <mr.sambo54ali@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrsamboali5@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2022 01:29:49 -0800
Subject: PLEASE I NEED YOUR URGENT HELP
Hello Dear Friend,
I am Mr. Sambo Ali
I really need your help this is not fake and I know fake people is all
over the world but you have to try this and you will not regret it and
if you find out that
this is fake you can quit.
Please help me so that you will receive this fund for me and I will
come over to your country for my own share of the fund.
Okay go through this website and see Mr S K Arora from India who died
with the next of kin daughter Ms M Arora in Napel plan crash.
See the website
[https://gadgets.ndtv.com/others/news/nepal-air-crash-list-of-indians-killed-223408}
go through it to confirm that this is not fake.
I only want you to stand as the next of kin to receive this fund
because i have all the needed documents to claim this fund and also
the deposit certificate
which i will send to you immediately you agree to help me
I am waiting for your urgent reply to my message to you so that I will
tell you the full details of this fund
also the amount involve and the bank where this fund is
Thanks
My regards to your family
Mr. Sambo Ali
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Anti-fraud resources:
