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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Christopher A. Wray," <smithhellom@gmail.com>
Reply-To: crimeinvestigationdepartment89@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2023 17:16:09 -0700
Subject: GREETINGS!!!
GREETINGS...............,
I am Christopher A. Wray, the director of Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI),
I am contacting you now base on issues on my desk this morning and
also, according to our investigations because we received a report
from the UNITED NATION that you have an abandoned ATM card. I have
instructed the UNITED NATION and other concerned authorities to bring
the ATM CARD to our office in Washington DC
The ATM CARD will arrive at my office tomorrow morning so i will send
you an agent to deliver the package to you.
Note that this ATM card is a compensation fund from the Government to you
You have to reconfirm your delivery information as stated below to
carry out with your delivery okay
Full Name.......
Current home address.....
Nearest airport
Copy of ID......
Age and gender.......
Phone Number.........
Email address.........
Your reply is urgently needed so that the preparation can be made for
the delivery of your ATM card to your home address.
Best regard
CHRISTOPHER A. WRAY
the official director of Federal Bureau of Investigation
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Anti-fraud resources:
