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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: "Cardinal Tarcisio" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <cardinaltarcisio@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2013 23:39:48 +0100
Subject: YOUR ACCOUNT NOTOFICATION
Attn:
I am cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and works in the Vatican council and i have done all my savings in with the
vatican's bank over the years before the new pope came to power. Presently, there are arrangements being
put in place by the vatican to close down the vatican bank.i am wrting to you because i need you to take
over my account in the bank. the amount i have in my account is 5.2milion usd. i am doing everything
possible to keep my position in the council of cardinals by not allowing the pope to know my estimated
wealth. i will brief you in detail when i hear from you. meanwhile be rest assured that you have 15 percent
of my entire savings at the vaticans bank when you choose to stand in for me as the owner of my account.
Let me hear from you when you read this email for further information.
best regards,
caridinal tarcisio.
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Anti-fraud resources: