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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:
- "sani abacha" (the name of a person or institution often appearing 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.
- mohammedabacha2@o2.pl (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "MOHAMMED ABACHA" <peacemovements1@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: mohammedabacha2@o2.pl
Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2010 21:45:50 -0300 (ART)
Subject: RE: FROM MOHAMMED ABACHA, PLS GET BACK TO ME.
DEAR SIR,
THIS IS NO JOKE AND I AM NOT CONTACTING YOU TO WASTE YOUR PRECIOUS TIME
NOR MINE.
MY NAME IS MOHAMMED ABACHA. I AM THE ELDEST SON OF LATE GENERAL SANI
ABACHA WHO WAS THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA. YOU CAN GET THE
INFORMATION ABOUT MY FATHER IN A GOOGLE SEARCH.
I HAVE AN INHERITANCE OF ONE BILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS (US$1BILLION)
WHICH I WANT TO INVEST IN PROPERTIES ABROAD. I AM INTERESTED IN BUYING
HOTELS AND NIGHT CLUBS OR A FOOTBALL CLUB ABROAD. I AM MAPING OUT 10% OF
MY INHERITANCE TO YOU IF YOU CAN HELP ME ACHIEVE MY DREAMS. I AM PRESENTLY
IN USA AND MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS ( mohammedabacha2@o2.pl )
KIND REGARDS,
MOHAMMED ABACHA
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Anti-fraud resources: