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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 pounds" (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: "Taylor JACKSON" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <bauknechtk.shoreline@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 7 Jan 2023 18:46:26 -0800
Subject: Re: HAPPY NEW YEAR.. I URGE you to read this message...
Dear Sir/Ma
Do you have the passion for humanitarian welfare? Can you devote your time and be totally committed and devoted to run multi-million pounds humanitarian charity project sponsored totally by me; with an incentive/compensation accrual to you for your time and effort and at no cost to you.
My client is among five (5) individuals that stand to lose their investment in Europe because of the recent sanction by the European union due to the Russian
government's attack on Ukraine. We urgently need a serious and reliable investor that can receive USD$50M to USD$500M urgently.
If interested, reply me for the full details
Regards.
Taylor Jackson
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Anti-fraud resources:
