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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:
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Kristina SEPAROVIC <zamari_guei2@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: Kristina SEPAROVIC <jie062@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 00:52:32 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Donation from Mrs. Kristina SEPAROVIC.
Donation from Mrs. Kristina SEPAROVIC.
Greetings In the name of God Almighty, I am divinely touched to offer my fortune to less privilege.
I am a childless widow and as a result of my present situation I have nothing in mind other than to help the poor according to God direction and wishes.
I reached you by the special grace of God through email because I can not speak to your understanding on telephone due to my sickness. I am suffering from esophageal cancer for years now and have undergone series of cancer treatments but no avail.
Recently my doctor declared that I have shorter days to live. Likewise from my daily health report it is also clear to me that I have but little time to pass on, therefore I wish to offer you my fortune ( US$ 750.000.00) Seven hundred and fifty thousand United State Dollars, to take care of charity work in favor of less privileges in your country.
The money will go to the charity work. I have come up with a great confidence for your trust conduct over this solemn work of God after many prayers. As soon as I receive your reply I will give you the address of my bank and also instruct them for the release of the money to you for the charity work.
But I only wished to have your assurance that you will utilize the money as I have said. I have great interest for the welfare of the less privilege. Please remember my situation in your daily prayers. Please kindly reply me as soon as possible with the below information for more details.
Your full name---------------
Your full Address-----------
Your occupation--------------
Your Telephone number-------------
Country------------
Hoping to receive your reply soon.
Your Sister In The Lord,
Mrs. Kristina SEPAROVIC.
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