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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:
- "i got your address from " (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Frederick Martins" <dr.emmaibekachikwu@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "Frederick Martins" <mari3cusfred@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2020 22:20:46 -0800 (PST)
Subject: RE: REPLY
Hello Dear,
Compliment of the day, I got your address from a reputable business/professional directory of your country which gives me assurance of your legibility as a person.
Mrs Sarah John wants to invest her $45 million being Cash left for her by her late husband Dr John Akabi.She wants you to invest the funds in REAL ESTATE AND HOTEL Or ANY PROFITABLE BUSINESS OF YOURS.
If you are interested in assisting her for mutual profit, Kindly send your full information and i will give you more details on the funds.
Thanks as I expect to read from you.Martins
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Anti-fraud resources: