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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: Letisa Hamzar <pfiona@ulaug.org>
Reply-To: Letisa Hamzar <letisahamzar0@yahoo.fr>
Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2016 07:05:05 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Greetings
Greetings,
I know that this letter may be a very big surprise to you; Please bring your attention to read this message with sympathetic mind. I am Mrs. Letisa Hamzar, I am 59 years old from Cote D'Ivoire. I am suffering from a long time Cancer of the breast. From all indication my condition is really deteriorating, and my Doctors have courageously advised me that I may not live beyond next month; this is because the cancer stage has reached a critical stage. I have an urgent business investment project for you to handle. I hope you will help me see that my last wishes come true; So please kindly reply me back urgently for more details.
I awaits your urgent response. Thank you and God bless you.
Your beloved sister.
Mrs. Letisa Hamzar.
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Anti-fraud resources:
