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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 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)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Rev. Larry David" <bebecouchenourfol96@gmail.com>
Reply-To: revnlarrydavid@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2023 15:39:47 -0700
Subject: Dear Winner,
--
Dear Beneficiary,
I am Diplomat Reverend Larry David and i just landed at Dulles
Airport with your Purple Jeep Wrangler and fund Worth $10.5 Million
United State Dollars which is in an ATM Master Card.
Get back to me as soon as possible with this following information
for the registration of the delivery with the custom officers:
Full Name..............
Current Address........
Occupation.............
Phone number.........
Age................
A pair of ID..........
I await to hear from you with the following information so as to
register this delivery and
proceed to your address.
Best Regards
Rev.Larry David
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Anti-fraud resources:
