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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:
- "attorneys " (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mrs Grace McCallister <stanley.armstrongblessed1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrsgrace.lister@outlook.com
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2018 23:52:01 +0100
Subject: Please let me know if you are interested
Greetings from my heart,
I pray my letter meets you in good spirit.I am Mrs.Grace McCallister
from Canada,wife to the late Peter C. McCallister,who died with my
only son in a ghastly motor accident five years ago.My late husband
and i were married for years before his sudden demise.A weight i have
carried for years.Coupled with the trauma of undergoing cancer
treatment for years now.My health has deteriorated and the doctors are
not confident i will live to see the next few months which is
heartbreaking for me.I decided to sell off all my inherited properties
in the USA and whatever belonging i could lay hands which amounted to
$7.5Million now deposited in a joint account i shared with my late
husband.I took this decision because i do not trust my late husband's
surviving brothers who have a record of criminal behaviors and i do
not want my money used in ungodly way.I am sure they are waiting for
me to die so that they can inherit my money.
I have decided after praying to donate my inheritance to charity.To be
distributed to orphanages and used to improve the life's of those
suffering from cancer and expansion of the word of the Lord.I would
love you to come in as my next of kin and ambassador to set up my
foundation and get this funds evenly distributed to charity.You and my
attorney will work together to get this done.
More so,i have discussed with my Attorney and he is willing to assist
in the distribution of the money to charity.I feel i have fought a
good fight and my soul is now at peace and am no longer afraid to
die.I would have loved to speak with you on the phone but,i can't
because of my poor health condition.Please always email me.I will
provide you my Attorneys details once you indicate your interest to
assist me with this project.
Please reply and let me know if you are interested.
Best Regards,
Mrs.Grace McCallister
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