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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:
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: Cornelius Freeman <johnsenderos1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: corneliusfreeman01@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2023 10:09:57 +0100
Subject: Re : Hello Friend
Dear Beneficiary
I am Barrister Cornelius Freeman, I am humbly soliciting for your consent
and assistance to stand as the next of kin to my deceased client whom you
share the same surname with, he died without any WILL of testament leaving
you chances to claim the sum of USD $12.5M as his next of kin.
Please kindly contact me for more details/information on how to claim this
fund.
Regards
Cornelius Freeman Esq.
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Anti-fraud resources:
