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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:
- "might come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "williamsmoore@qq.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "williamsmoore@qq.com" (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: "Williams Moore" <williamsmoore@q.com>
Reply-To: williamsmoore@qq.com
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2014 16:51:48 -0600
Subject: Re: Very Important
Dear Sir,
I know this mail might come to you as a surprise due to the fact we have not met or seen before, but i want you to pay attention to my business proposal with no risk but only needs your confidentiality and honesty
I am Mr. Williams Moore a citizen of United Kingdom. I have in my bank the existence of a big amount of money that belongs to a customer, Mr. Daniel who happen to come from your country.The fund is now without any claim because Mr. Daniel died in a deadly earthquake in China in 2008 . I want your cooperation so as to make the bank send you the fund as the beneficiary and next of kin to the fund.
This proposal will be of a great mutual benefit to us
Send me your reply of interest so that I will give you the details .
Strictly send it to my private email account : williamsmoore@qq.com or send me your private email address to send you details of this transaction.
At the receipt of your reply, I will give you details of the transaction.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Wiliams Moore
williamsmoore@qq.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
