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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: <aka8@az43.onmicrosoft.com>
Reply-To: <larrywilliam1@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 1 Jan 2016 21:45:24 +0100
Subject: UNITED NATIONS,LONDON
Attn: , Re : Payment notification for last quarter 2015 I write to inform y=
ou that your file have been approved by the United Nations board of directo=
rs for prompt release of your long awaiting via DIRECT PAYMENT SYSTEM .The =
Sun Trust Bank,NY USA will setup an account for you and send you the transf=
er instructions to enable you complete your transfer into your nominated ba=
nk account without any charges. You are advised to reconfirm the following =
information: Full name Full address Phone/Mobile phone number As soon as th=
e above information is received,I will summit your file to the SUN TRUST BA=
NK USA for immediate processing and release of your fund within 72 hours.Re=
ply back as urgent as possible for more information in details. I look forw=
ard to hearing from you. Yours Sincerely, Larry William
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Anti-fraud resources:
