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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:
- "utmost confidentiality" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mrs.Lee Jenny <mmrrslee10@msn.com>
Reply-To: <madamlucy03@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Sun, 6 May 2012 23:31:35 +0000
Subject: Greetings from Mrs. Lee
Greetings from Mrs. Lee,
My name is Jenny Lee; a dying woman who has decided to donate what I have
for the good work of charity. I was diagnosed for breast cancer for about
2 years now.I have been touched by God to donate from what I have
inherited from my late husband to you for the good work of God, rather
than allow my husband evil relatives to use my husband hard earned funds
ungodly. They don't care about man kind, all they care is how to rob some
money from me and spend them ungodly.
Please pray that the good Lord forgives me my sins. I have asked God to
forgive me and I believe he has because He is a merciful God. I will be
going in for a surgery soon and I want to make sure that I make this
donation before undergoing my surgery.
I decided to donate my fund to you for investment towards the good work of
the lord, and also to help the motherless and less privilege and for the
assistance of the widows and unfortunate mothers.
At the moment I don't want any telephone calls due to the fact that my
husband's relatives are always around me and trying to see if they can
overhear my conversations and my health status as well.
I wish you all the best and may the good Lord bless you abundantly. please
use the funds well and always extend the good work to others. It is true
that I don't know you and you don't know, but I have been directed by God
to contact you for this grace. I will appreciate your utmost
confidentiality in this matter until the task is accomplished.
Regards,
Mrs. Jenny Lee
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