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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:
- "inheritance funds" (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: Richeal Johnson <johncompbell45@gmail.com>
Reply-To: richealjohnson24@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 11 May 2021 13:16:01 +0100
Subject: Greetings
Greetings in the name of the lord,
I will like to know you more so that i will entrust my hope on you
about my late husband wishes. I am a widow suffering from cancer of
the breast as i have Inheritance funds left by my late husband which i
will give you the full details to enable the bank transfer this
funds to you which you will engaged into charity service so that the
poor, needy and the less privileged will benefit from this humanity
vision. I will be waiting for your response and i hope you will do as
i will instruct you. Please Reply to my email to enable me detail you
more on this issue.
Love and Peace
From Mrs Johnson
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Anti-fraud resources:
