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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:
- "the consignment" (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)
- "consignment " (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)
- "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)
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "contact the diplomat" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- "the diplomat " ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- "liberia" (a location commonly mentioned 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: "Vincent Ramsey" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <vramsey85@sify.com>
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 2010 01:27:01 -0000
Subject: I Need Your Assistant ..............Please Kindly Help Me ! ! !
I Need Your Assistant !!!
First and foremost I want to introduce myself to you. My Name is Vincent Ramsey Son to Late Dr. Mathew Ramsey. I am 20yrs old Boy and my Sister is 14yrs. We are From Liberia Our Father was killed by the some rebels during the war Crisis in Liberia. So we ran to Ghana for our security . My consignment contains $25 million United States dollars and some quantity of gold and Diamond, which I cannot specify. The consignments are presently in the STATE (USA). The consignment gets to the State through the help of a Mr.Koffi Mensah The fact is that Mr.Koffi Mensah is supposed to have delivered this consignment to Miss Cynthia William in the USA.
The week Koffi Mensah was suppose to deliver the consignment to her, when he got to the State after clearing the consignment from the Airport, he call Miss Cynthia William to tell her the description to her house for the delivery, but her House Helper answered the call and told Mr.Koffi Mensah that Miss Cynthia William hard a fatal car accident which lead to her death some few hours later.
Please I and my sister seek for you to stand as our Beneficiary / God Loving Parent to contact the Diplomat so that he can be able to relocate the Consignment to you.you can call me on 00233274134203
Please, Contact Mr.Koffi Mensah on time and get back to me through mail. I await your urgent response. My sister is dieing and she needs medical treatment urgently.
Thanks and God bless you
Vincent Ramsey.
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