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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: "Edith Gardner" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrs.edith.gardner1@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:48:33 +0100
Subject: Please Read Carefully.
Hi,
My name is Mrs. Edith Gardner a 65yrs old lady. I have been diagnosed with lung cancer and the doctor said that it is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung.
This growth has lead to the invasion of adjacent tissue and infiltration beyond my lungs.
The doctor has told me that I would not last for long due to my condition.
Having to know my present condition, I have willed and most of my property and assets to mgiveny immediate and extended family members as well as few close friends.
I have now decided to give away my personal jewelry box for a non profit cause, I was a collector of gold jewelries for the past 30years. I am willing to give this to a non profit group
Let me know what kind of work you do and how this would benefit your cause.
Best Regards,
Mrs. Edith Gardner
"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle"
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Anti-fraud resources:
