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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: Derek Langston<dereklangston@corisbank.com>
Reply-To: kentpace@sina.com
Date: 07 Nov 2015 13:07:17 -0800
Subject: Your immediate response required if you are alive
Hello,
Please confirm if you are still alive, because two gentle men
walked into my office this morning to claim your Contract funds
in our in our bank. I got your email from one of the files of
those who have not been paid for the Contract you or your Parents
or your relatives has done in the past..
If you are still alive, please indicate by sending your full
contact details ASAP for you to receive your payment.
Derek Langston
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Anti-fraud resources: