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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- beautyofsarah@sify.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "MRS SARAH FRANK" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <beautyofsarah@sify.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:42:02 -0800
Subject: GREETINGS.
I am Mrs.Sarah Frank from England i am deaf and i have cancer of the breast,i have been living with this for a very long time.I lost my husband and my only son to an auto crash 2 years ago.My husband deposited the sum of $8.3 million USD into a Bank in fixed deposit before his death and which i also know about it,because we love each other so much and we both run joint account.I want you to collect and help me distribute this fund to charity organisations,motherless babies home and less previlledge people in the society before i die,because my personal physician and some other doctors said and confirmed that i have less than two months to live due to my cancer illness.
If you are a good and honest person no matter the color of your skin or religion,i shall give you the contact of the Bank and also the Deposit Certificate so as to claim my fund before my death.Expecting your urgent response and may God bless you as you carry out my wish and remember that this must be confidential
Your dying sister.
Mrs.Sarah Frank.
beautyofsarah@sify.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
