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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)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs Lucy Lee" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrs_lucy_lee@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:50:10 +0100
Subject: Please reply mail from Mrs Lee
Dear Friend ,
My name is Mrs Lucy Lee and i have been diagonised of Cancer of the Lungs.My
condition has deteriorated so much that my doctors said i have barely 30
days to live. I want a God fearing person that will help me share my wealth
to the poor and use it in Gods work.If you know that the fear of the Lord is
in you and you will use the funds for the purpose which i wish, please get
back to me as soon as you can so that i can give you the necessary
informations.
Thank you and God bless.
Mrs Lee.
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Anti-fraud resources:
