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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- ",500,000" (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)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "chambers" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
- 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.
- barr.frankphillips12@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "hippolytemissiadiho1980@gmail.com" <hippolytemissiadiho1980@gmail.com>
Reply-To: barr.frankphillips12@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2023 01:30:33 -0800
Subject: =?UTF-8?Q?A_Donation_Of_=C2=A31=2E5_Million_British_Pound_To_You=3F?=
--
My husband and I Ivan and Susan Westbury won £7.7 Million on
Saturday's 2010 Lotto rollover jackpot. After going through your
profile this year 2023, we decided to donate the sum of £1,500,000 to
you as part of our own charity project to help improve the lot of the
people in your region; you count your self lucky. Contact our lawyer
to approve your payment.
Barrister FRANK PHILLIPS Chambers Email Address: barr.frankphillips12@gmail.com
please visit the website for further verification:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jul/21/lottery-win-lightning-shock
Regards Ivan and Susan Westbury
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Anti-fraud resources:
