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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: Adrian and Gillian Bayford <balasevic@EUnet.rs>
Reply-To: adriangillian@yeah.net
Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 20:58:01 +0100
Subject: DEAR BENEFICIARY
Dear Friends,
If you have received this email then you are one of the lucky fellow to
benefit from us. On behalf of myself and family i am happy to inform you that i
and my wife Gillian have chosen you to be
one of our beneficiaries on our Euro Millions Jackpot win of L148m(One hundred
and Forty Eight Millions Pounds)that held
last August. Based on the win we decided that just 25 people be selected for
this
benefit, leaving each beneficiary with 1.5 million Great Britain Pounds each to
better their lives because we cant enjoy it all
alone, as the win is for sharing.information of our Euro Million Jackpot win
via this link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2187999/Will-148m-EuroMillions-jackpot-
winner-share-fortune-long-lost-half-brother-met.html
This might appear strange but its a reality, so do get back to us quickly via
email at
adriangillian@yeah.net
Best Regards,
Adrian and Gillian Bayford
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Anti-fraud resources: