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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: "Bricks Manuel" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <bricksman@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2014 08:08:21 -0800
Subject: Great News
Hello,
This is to inform you that you have been deceived by the so called British/Nigerian Officials for long. They have extorted enough of your hard earned money from you and it is time to say enough to that.
The British Government and Federal Government has set up this committee to ensure that all beneficiaries are paid their long over due funds without asking you to pay any dime. Therefore, I am sending this email to inform you that your funds will be paid to you without asking you to pay any fee for anything whatsoever.
We are very sorry for your ugly experiences in the hands of these criminals. You are required to get in touch with this office urgently to direct you further on how to receive your funds unconditionally.
Your urgent response is highly expected.
Regards,
Bricks Manuel
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Anti-fraud resources:
