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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:
- "million dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- miss.sharonrussell@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Miss Sharon Russell <service@vbv.fr>
Reply-To: miss.sharonrussell@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2016 12:42:15 +0000
Subject: Re:Re:Hello, How are you Today !
Hello,
I am Sharon Russell, 16 years old from the United States. I was raised up by a single mother who died two years ago from breast cancer. Since my mother died I have been living here in the Caribbean with my stepfather Before my mother died she bequeathed her properties valued $3.9 Million dollars to me as her only daughter, my stepfather who has problems with drugs and alcohol has been threatening to kill me if i do not handover the properties documents to him and tell my mother's attorney that he is my stepfather and guardian. I need to live this house as soon as possible before he kill me, all i need is someone who could be my guardian to claim my inheritance because i have no other surviving family member to present to my mother's attorney. Please help me and i will forever remain grateful to you, i will explain further when i hear from you Attached is my picture for you to know what i look like I hope to hear from you soon.
Regards
Miss Sharon Russell
Email: miss.sharonrussell@gmail.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
