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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- "mariatheresa.alonzo69@hotmail.es" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mariatheresa.alonzo@yahoo.es
Reply-To: mariatheresa.alonzo69@hotmail.es
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 01:11:39 +0300
Subject: Please Treat as Urgent - $8.4 Million
Dear Friend,
I'm Maria Theresa Alonzo, 77 years of age. I am a widow and lost my only daugther last year, I'm suffering from long time illness and I've some funds inherited from my late husband, approximately $8.4 Million and I'm seeking a very honest and God fearing person or family who can help in using the funds for Gods work when I'm gone.
Don't be curious about how I got your email address, I found your name and email address from the internet and decided to contact you.
Kindly email me at: mariatheresa.alonzo69@hotmail.es if you can be of help. Please take this seriously and treat as urgent.
Thanks and God bless you
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Anti-fraud resources:
