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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:
- "abidjan" (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: GoodLuck James <infoprivate91@yahoo.com.vn>
Reply-To: private_link101@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2011 19:11:28 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: Attn Please.
Attn Please.
I am Good luck James 19 years old boy from Cote D` Iviore West Africa with trust i am sending this mail to you and have to tell you that i am real in need of your help to get out from here for good and promise you that i will be good to you and will have you as part of my family as i lost my father and my mother during the way of Cote D` Iviore and I am the only son of the family.
My late father was doing gold business before he die and he have the sum of Euro 2.5 million with UBA
Bank Abidjan and 15 KG of gold with a company here which my name is the next of the king and I have got to the bank and confirm the money is there and to the company where the gold is also and the gold is there, of the truth i want you to help me move this money and the gold to your country and invest it on a good business there why I will look for a school there to go please if real you can help me get back to me so that we talk on how it will be done. Thanks for your understand and God bless us Amen.
Yours
Good luck James.
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Anti-fraud resources:
