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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:
- "here in london united kingdom" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs.Rosaline Valcarce" <pastorchrisdedon@googlemail.com>
Reply-To: mrs.rosalinevalcarce@ymail.com
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 22:24:03 +0000
Subject: Greetings My Dearest In The Lord Jesus
From: Mrs.Rosaline Valcarce .
Greetings My Dearest In The Lord Jesus
I am Mrs.Rosaline Valcarce an ageing widow suffering from long time
illness. I am currently admitted in a privet hospital here in London,
I have some funds I inherited from my late loving husband Mr. Benjamin
Valcarce, the sum of GBP£7.800.000 (Seven Million Eight Hundred
British Pounds GBP) which he deposited in one of the famous Bank here
in London United Kingdom, meanwhile, I need a very honest and God
fearing Christian or an Individual that can use this funds for God's
work and 20% out of the total funds will be for your personal use as
compensation for doing this work of God. I found your email address
from the Internet and decide to contact you. Please if you would be
able to use these funds for the God's work kindly reply me.
Thanks for your co-operations
Your Sister In The Lord.
Mrs.Rosaline Valcarce
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Anti-fraud resources:
