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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Christopher Higgins (Mr.)" <noreply@msn.com>
Reply-To: <swd96996@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2023 21:45:03 -0700
Subject: PFC Trust Order
Hello Dear Friend,
My name is Christopher Higgins and I am the Donations Coordinator for PFC Trust in County Durham founded by and where Francis and Patrick Connolly reside. As you may well have been informed or not, Francis and Patrick Connolly won £115m in the EuroMillions lottery on New Year's day 2019. They have since given out a huge chunk of that money as donations every January. Two foundations have been charged to oversee these donations: the Kathleen Graham Trust in Northern Ireland, named after Frances' mother, and the PFC Trust in County Durham. You can confirm this via the website link below:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-46756469
EuroMillions: 'It'll be fun to give away' say NI jackpot couple
Frances and Patrick Connolly say they are overwhelmed after winning the £115m Lotto jackpot.
www.bbc.com
I am now here to tell you that you have been chosen to receive a sizable d onation of £3m which I will ensure gets to you as soon as possible. All you need to do is indicate your interest to receive the said donation and we will work on the rest together.
I am waiting to hear from you.
Christopher Higgins (Mr.)
Donations Coordinator,
PFC Trust.
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Anti-fraud resources:
