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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: "ohn Wick." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <johnwick00@firemail.de>
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2023 01:19:48 -0800
Subject: Compliments
Compliments
I am John Wick. a Financial Consultant from South Africa however
I got your esteemed contact via
LinkedIn. I want to partner with you on a transaction worth $80.5 MILLION AND
120 KG OF AU METAL
I had a client who unfortunately died of COVID-19 complications
from 2020. I want you to receive this money as a representative for of
my late client. He died intestate together with his nominated next of
kin unfortunately. I shall provide to you all appropriate legal
documents that will present you as a legal representative and
entitlement to these assets/estate. Part of this estate is in AU METAL
(120 KG OF AU METAL). When you reply, we shall discuss a whole lot of issues
including disbursement modalities and of course any questions you will
have regarding the process.
If your response is yes, kindly send a contact number where I could
reach you in all privacy.
Best Regards,
John Wick.
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Anti-fraud resources:
