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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:
- ",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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Mabel Ovis" <kohrogokabila0010@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: "Mrs. Mabel Ovis" <mabelovis619@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 18:49:32 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Attention
Charity
Donation from Mrs. Mabel Ovis
Abidjan
Cote d’Ivoire West Africa.
Â
Attention:
Â
Greetings
in the name of the Almighty God/Allah. I know this proposal will definitely
come to you as a huge surprise, but I implore you to take your time to go
through it carefully as the decision you make will go a long way to determine
my future.
Â
I am
Mrs. Mabel Ovis an ageing widow of 57 years old suffering from long time
illness. I have some funds which I inherited from my late husband, the sum of
USD $4,500,000.00 and I needed a very honest and God fearing person who can
withdraw this money then use the funds for Charity works. I wish to entrust
this money to you for charity work.
Â
I
found your email address from the internet after honest prayers to the
Lord/Allah to bring me honest person I can confide, and I decided to contact
you if you may be willing and interested to handle these trust funds in good
faith. Please kindly respond quickly for further details if you can handle this
task.
Â
Regards,
Â
Mrs. Mabel Ovis.
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Anti-fraud resources:
