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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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "million united states dollars" (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)
- "mariam abacha" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: aisha_gad3@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 17:30:21 -0300 (UYT)
Subject: Dear Sir/Madam
Dear Sir/Madam, I am Dr. Mrs Mariam
Abacha,the wife of Late General Sani Abacha,the military
head of States of Nigeria.I have 30 Million United States
Dollars(30M U.S.D) in here in a vault company kept as family
treasure and personal effects belonging to a foreign
expertriate.I am oblige to make you the beneficiary to this
funds. Please get back to me
immediately with your details if you are willing to help on
this mutual deal.
Yours
sincerely,
Dr. Mrs.
Mariam Abacha.
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Anti-fraud resources: