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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.
- mrs.elliotlynn2013@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Elliot Jennifer Lynn" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrs.elliotlynn2013@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 06:03:32 -0700
Subject: Check your email
I am Mrs. Elliot Jennifer Lynn from USA, i know you must have been surprise on my message. I found you on my web search over my research towards a noble project that i want to share with you, my late husband died 2008 after a brief illness which resulted only four working days before his death, he made a deposit with a bank which i have decided to use it for charity purpose since i have no one to call my child.
I have been battling with fibroad ever i since but what pains me more is the cancer which i have been notify that i have few months to live this is the reason why i have decided to utilize this fund as i will instruct, i will give you 25% out of the fund the only requirement needed is your sincerity to utilize this fund as i will instruct. Reply me immediately on: mrs.elliotlynn2013@gmail.com
All i needed is:
1: Full name and address
2: Telephone number and Fax
3: Occupation
4: A copy of your passport
I wait for your urgent response and i will furnish you with more details and documents that shows the legality of
this project.
Yours sister
Mrs. Elliot Jennifer Lynn.
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Anti-fraud resources:
