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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: "Jamilah Alif" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jamilahalif@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 02:56:17 +0800
Subject: hello (urgent)
Hello,
I think I should tell you my main purpose of being here. I am admitted in a Cancer hospital here in malaysia because I have been diagnosed of stage 3 of esophageal cancer with a 15% survival rate and so I have less than two months to live. I am undergoing my chemotherapy. I am a widow with no child and I grew up in an orphanage. I want someone who will take over all I have and use 70% of it to start up an orphanage as well as donate to the research of cancers in children. I need someone to do this and since I have no one I am turning to you. The 30% left will be for all your troubles in helping me. Most of my properties have been sold and banked and its overall worth is approximately 3.5 million in american usd. I will tell you more if you are ready to accept what I am offering. For now have a great time.
Best regards,
Jamilah
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Anti-fraud resources:
