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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:
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "John Williams" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <williams_john1@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2016 23:29:57 +0100
Subject: ******** GRANT COMPENSATION REWARDS**********
Welcome to the Compensation Grant Awards for the year 2016. My name is Agent John Williams .I work for United State Government Department of Veterans Affairs.
Congratulations!!! Your name is on our list here and you won the sum of $400,000.00 from the ongoing funds offer for the free Compensation Grant Awards.
Full Name-------------------
Full Address-------------
Male Or Female---------
Occupation-------------
Monthly Income--------
Date Of Birth--------
Married Or Single-------
Text Number---------------
Email Address-----------
Photo Identity Driving
License Copy------------
Own House Or Apt---------
Cash Or Check-----------
WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!!
Do not tell people about your Award until your winning money is successfully handed over to you to avoid disqualification that may arise from double claim from another person.You may receive similar e-mails from people portraying to be other Organizations.This is solely to collect your personal information from you and claim over your winning.
In event that you receive any e-mail similar to the notification letter that was sent to you, Kindly forward a copy to us and delete it from your mail box and give no further correspondence to such person or body.We shall not be held responsible for any loss of fund arising from the above mentioned and you should be honest with us.
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Anti-fraud resources:
