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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:
- "trunk box" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Miss Jane Williams" <lzf0052@mail.com>
Reply-To: <lzf0052@email.com>
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 17:28:00 -0500
Subject: My Estate and Urgent.
Dearly respected one,
I am Miss Jane Williams a 17 years old and the only (child) daughter of late Engineer Phat Williams (the Minister of Mines and Industry), I got your e-mail address and decided to write you without delay regarding my inherited Estate and my investment plan with you in your Country.
Please kindly write back and detail me on your business experience and help me to negotiate with a business investment expertise to us know the kind of business investment that will be 100% profitable in your Country if the deposited $13.9 million Usd by my late father is being invested there including trunk box of 750 Kilos of Gold 99.999 purity which I am also its next-of-kin.
For more details, please provide me with your personal telephone numbers.
Thanks for your kindness and will expect your quick response.
Yours ever,
Miss Jane
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Anti-fraud resources:
