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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:
- "remain blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: James Arthur <llasrasdnannarrrbayxdo@gmail.com>
Reply-To: jamesarthur@barristersssociates.com
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2024 13:31:13 -1200
Subject: James Arthur
I'm James Arthur, I was the legal Attorney Representative to a member of
your deceased relative from your country who used to work as a contractor
here in my country. He deposited a huge sum of $25,829,031.00 in a
financial institution before he died.
I want to present you as his legal next of kin to the bank where he
deposited the money due to the fact that you are a foreigner and from the
same country of the deceased, so that you and I may be entitled to request
and receive the fund in its own name that you are a member of the family to
receive the money on behalf of the deceased.
I will inform you more as I hope to hear from you soon.
If you are interested I want you to send me complete personal information
like your full name, phone number that will allow me to provide you with
full details of the transaction to enable us proceed without further delay
Remain blessed
Lawyer. James Arthur
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Anti-fraud resources:
