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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:
- "dearest beloved one," (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million us 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)
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mayabel Munir" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mayabelmunir@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2016 02:51:48 +0200
Subject: Re:I need your urgent reply
Dearest Beloved One,
I am Mrs Mayabel Munir.I am married to Late Mr.Munir Darscot, who was a wealthy business man in this country.We were married for many years with out a child.Before he died after a brief illness.
Before his sudden death we were devoted christian.When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of Twenty Five Million US Dollars ($ 25.000.000.00) in one of the firm here in the country.
I am very sick from Kidney cancer that I may not last till the next two months according to the doctor's report. For this reason, I decided to donate this money to a honest individual who will use it for God's work such as orphans, widows and building of churches to fulfill the vow I and my late husband made to God.
I have chosen you after a deep thought that took me some days to make this decision and I want this money to be use as I have said since I do not have any child to inherit this fund and our relatives are all unbelievers and I do not want our hard earned money to be used in an ungodly way so you will take 15% of the fund for your efforts and use the remaining as I stated above.
As soon as I read from you I will give you more details on how to achieve this goal and get this fund transferred to your bank account.
I need your urgent reply as I do not know what tomorrow will result.
Your Sister In The Lord
Mrs Mayabel Munir.
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