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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: "Anna Nguyen" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrsannarnguyen@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2023 18:50:09 -0000
Subject: Charity work
I am Mrs. Anna Nguyen, a 80 years old widow. I was married to the late Engr. Robert Nguyen, my late husband was from Singapore, who worked with Oil Company in the United States for Thirty-five years before he died in the year 2018 after a brief illness that lasted only five days. Following my ill health (Cancer of the Lungs), my doctor told me that I may not live longer than required due to my health condition. I am looking forward to someone who I can entrust my husband's money to use for charitable works. More details will be made known to you upon your response.
Thank you,
May God Bless
Mrs. Anna Nguyen.
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Anti-fraud resources:
