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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.
- elizabeth_matak@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: matak <matak.elizabeth@gmail.com>
Reply-To: elizabeth_matak@hotmail.com
Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 07:18:28 -0800 (PST)
Subject: hello
I like your profile. I am very easy to talk to and good fun to be with, i
am fit and healthy. I am very attractive both inside and out. Very
comfortable about who and what i am and will treat others the way i
expect to be treated, life is simple if you keep it that way.I am
seeking for someone that i can call my own, I know this will sound as a
surprise to you since we haven't communicate before now or don't even
know each other at the moment but i also know that the journey of a
thousand mile must start with a step that is why I want to know more
about you,please you can contact me with this email
address{elizabeth_matak@hotmail.com}
Yours friend to be
Miss Elizabeth, am single
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Anti-fraud resources:
