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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Kenneth Williams" <kenjuliet2021@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2018 14:30:18 -0400
Subject: I wait your reply
Greetings my dear friend and how are you doing today? I am Kenneth and my
younger sister Juliet Williams from Republic of Sierra Leone, I and my
sister is the only Son and daughter of Late General Alexander Williams, am
17 years of age and my sister is 15 years of age, right now am contacting
you for the transfer of our inheritance fund that is deposited with a bank
of Côte d'Ivoire to your own bank account in your country for my coming
over for investment, Please reply me very urgent so that i can give you
more details of the transfer and ourselves and will also send you passport
photo immediately i read from you.
I wait your reply
Best Regards
Kenneth & Juliet Williams
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Anti-fraud resources:
