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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 next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "William Ortega" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <emmy.marty@onet.eu>
Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2021 02:51:32 -0700
Subject: Re: Hello.
Hello
How are you today? I am confirming if you received my previous email regarding you having the same Surname with my late client / inheritance. Please accept my sincere apology for this unsolicited letter to you, I am aware that this is certainly not a conventional way of approach to establish a relationship of trust but you will realize the need for my action.
My name is William Ortega and I am a lawyer practicing here in Spain. After going through your profile; i am highly delighted to be in contact with you while searching for a last name similar to my late client a business magnate. As a legal representative and personal attorney am writing to you in regards to my deceased client, who died of cancer in 2004.
Kindly indicate your interest and i shall inform you more on how to proceed next.
Regards Sincerely,
William Ortega
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Anti-fraud resources:
