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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 <edith86e@yahoo.fr>
Reply-To: edith111e@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2012 08:52:35 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: MAIL
Dearly Beloved,
Warm greetings to you.
I hope this mail meet you in a very good health condition.
My name is Edith Robert
I lost my father during the political crises in my country.
Please permit me to enter into a cordial business relationship with you.
I want to use you as a capable hand to move my inheritance fund 8.500.000USD to your country for further investment.
Please, if you can honestly and confidentially assist me to move this fund to your country and help me to invest it, kindly reply my mail with your contacts information as follows.
Your full name
Your Permanent Address
Your direct phone number.
I am waiting for your reply and all your information as above to enable me to furnish you with all the details.
Sincerely
EDITH ROBERT
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Anti-fraud resources:
