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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:
- "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.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- giftmoneydonation@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Warren E. Buffett" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <netbaustralia@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 4 Feb 2023 23:00:52 +0100
Subject: PAYMENT INFORMATION FOR YOU
Dear Friend.
I wish you a Happy New Year and a good wealth 2023!
My name is Warren E. Buffett, an American business tycoon, investor and philanthropist. I am the most successful investor in the world and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Visit this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett or you can Google my name for more info: (Warren Buffett).
My billionaire was a gift of God to me and i have decided to use this year 2023 to praise Almighty God by giving away the sum of Ten million five hundred thousand Euro each to five lucky individuals around the world as a free gift money and to make them rich so that they can start enjoy life and provide help of family and friends.
I had an idea that never changed in my mind, that you should use your wealth to help people
Upon receipt of this email, you should consider yourself the lucky individual because your name Email ID is among those selected to receive Ten million five hundred thousand Euro from us as a free gift money.
Please send your response to ( giftmoneydonation@aol.com ) so I can provide you with more details about this donation.
I will wait for your answer.
Reply me for more information on this email ( giftmoneydonation@aol.com )
Note, in case you are not interested in getting your free donation money, kindly trash the messages and stand the chance of losing it after January 2023.
Best Regards
Warren E. Buffett.
CEO of Berkshire Hathaway United States
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Anti-fraud resources:
