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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:
- "cotonou" (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: "Ms. Bianca Acosta" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <funnbianca@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2013 04:08:53 +0100
Subject: Looking for My heart my mutual spirit.
Hi,
My name is Bianca and am 23 years of age. I am of Mixed race, my mother is from Venezuela and my father is from China but my dad is late. before my father's death he was a merchant, we were living in Syria but have to relocate to Cotonou in Benin Republic due to political crisis which lead my mom to blindness. I am looking for a good man to marry who will love me the way I want. anything is possible in this world if only we tried who knows where this relationship might lead us.
I will send you my stunning photos and phone number once i have your positive response.
Kisses from
Bianca
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This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by ThinkNet MailScanner System, and is
believed to be clean.
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Anti-fraud resources:
