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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "hundred thousand 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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "KIM SIMON" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <kimsimonn@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2012 00:02:10 +0400
Subject: MY PROPOSAL - KIM SIMON
Dear Friend;
I must begin by thanking you so much for the time and opportunity given to me to express my personal issues. I am 23yrs of age and was brought up in London by my late mother who was married to my father Dr. Lucas Simon even though I have never known him but I hear from relations that he is a good man and now residing in Russia.
My mother passed away on the 28th of January 2012 after a brief illness. The death of my mother (Late Dr. Hanan Fiddah Simon) has brought about so many setbacks in my life with my late mothers relations not helping matters not to mention the government that is restricting me from having access to my mother’s wealth. Before her death she deposited USD$7,500,000.00 (Seven Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) with a private blue chip company called The Clearing House authorizing them to release the money to me when she has passed on and I have come of age to handle the money myself. Without wasting much of your time, I need you to stand in for me as my friend and investor to receive this money before my uncles and aunties take all of it away from me leaving me with nothing. I do not intend to stay in this country any longer because I am already fed up with the environment and the way things are going at the moment I can sacrifice coming over to your country to be with you. I have discussed this
I need to hear from you as soon as possible if you are going to stand on my behalf and I promise to give back to you 40% of the money for your kind gestures. I do not need any financial assistance from you but your honest understanding and positive mind until the money gets to you. My email address is stated below so you can write me as soon as you get this message letting me have the below information’s as my attorney has specified for record purposes; I guarantee you that your information will be safe with me.
First Name.............
Surname................
Address...............
City........................
State/Province.......
Country..................
Telephone No........
Occupation ……….
Date of Birth (date/m/yr)
Copy of International Passport
Thank you and God bless
Sincerely,
Kim Simon
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