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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)
- "alexandra_kouame@outlook.fr" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mme Kouamé Alexandra" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <alexandra_kouame@outlook.fr>
Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2014 21:54:23 -0000
Subject: Besoin d'aide
Bonjour tres cher (e)
Je voudrais m'excuser de mon intrusion dans votre vie privee
Bref,je m'appelle Mlle Alexandra Kouame j'ai 22 ans je suis ivoirienne orpheline de pere et de mere apres la mort de mon pere, il m'a laisser un héritage de Trois Millions Cinq Cent Mille Euros (3.500.000 €) loger dans une banque ici a Abidjan.J'aimerai que vous m'aidiez a le faire transférer dans votre pays, vous aurez 25% de mes fonds si vous m'aidez dans cette tache.Je vous en prie faite vite car la situation actuelle n'est pas trop stable ici dans mon pays (cote d'ivoire). Je vis actuellement cacher dans un petit hotel tres discret a cause des associes de mon pere qui me veulent du mal a cause de mon héritage.
Je vous remercie infiniment de votre attention et votre humanisme à l’egard de ma personne.
Et je reste dans l'attente pressente de votre reponse sur mon mail suivant: alexandra_kouame@outlook.fr
Fraternellement
Mlle Alexandra Kouame
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Anti-fraud resources:
