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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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)
- "million united state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- mathewphilipsboabank@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Clay Tousey <johnabigail044@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mathewphilipsboabank@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 2023 13:57:45 +0100
Subject: ATTENTION CHOSEN ONE
Attention Dear Friend,
I'm Clay Tousey, the Winner of the 286 million jackpot prize held on
June 5, 2021. here is a verification webpage for record
https://www.powerball.com/winner-story/love-you-more-trust-becomes-floridas-16th-powerball-jackpot-winner
My Jackpot win was a gift from God to my family
Hence my entire Family has agreed to do this
We are donating 50% of the money to help individuals and Small
Scale Businesses around the world that was affected by the pandemic.
I got your email from Google business contact listings and
will be donating Five Million United state Dollars to you
Please accept this Token as a gift from Me and my family.
get Back to my assistant with an acceptance note if accepted
otherwise disregard.
contact person
name: Mathew Philips
email: mathewphilipsboabank@gmail.com
I anticipate your earliest response.
Best Regards
Clay Tousey
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Anti-fraud resources:
