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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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Leszczynska Anna Malgorzata." <viviananderson468@gmail.com>
Reply-To: annamalgorzata587@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2023 02:39:35 -0700
Subject: DONATION
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My health condition has gotten worse and just two weeks ago my doctor
informed me that my condition has reach a critical stage, and that I
have just 2 weeks left. This confirmation from my doctor was and still
is devastating news; it is hard to know that you have just a little
time left to live here.
My late husband was a contractor in Ivory Coast, he died after a brief
illness period of our marriage we could not bear any child. My late
husband was very wealthy and after his death, I inherited all his
wealth.
After the doctor’s medical pronunciation that I have just few weeks to
live, I decided to donate to your country so that you can use the
money for the less privileged. I want to assist you with the funds to
do great charity works in your country, this is my last wish.
I will give more details as soon as I hear from you.
God bless you.
Ms Anna.
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Anti-fraud resources:
