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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:
- "million united state 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)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "franktony2016@yandex.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.Frank Anthony" <test@sd.cox.net>
Reply-To: franktony2016@yandex.com
Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2019 15:34:05 -0700
Subject: RE:HELLO GOOD DAY!!!
Good Day My Dear,
I am very sorry sending you email instead of posting this letter to you.I
did it because of the urgency involve.
Please bear with me and take this very serious and top secret also call me
after going through it.
I will give you more details after hearing from you.
Is all about moving fund to your country for investment and you will be
highly rewarded for that.The amount involved is $30 Million United State
Dollars.I will wait for your reply via this email (
franktony2016@yandex.com )so you will know your position and your percent
if you can promise to be honest in handling your part for me.
Best Regards,
Frank Anthony.
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Anti-fraud resources:
