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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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- rania.hassan02@yahoo.com (Yahoo; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Rania Hassan <ranhassa7817@outlook.com>
Reply-To: <ranhassa@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 01:43:34 +0000
Subject: Hello
Dear Friend,
I hope my mail will fine you and your family in good
health. My name is Madam Rania Hassan, i know it will be a big surprise
for you to receive my email , please i beg you and i swear that what am
telling you is not a joke.
am from Libya and my husband is one
of the late Gaddafi sons driver. it was my husband who took Gaddafi
family to Niger and Algeria when they ran from Libya. but he came back
to Libya and died when their convoy was hit by NATO bomb. but he told me
something very important when he was alive. he told me how he took some
money from Gaddafi son and kept it in a secret place.
he said
the money is in Euro , 8.6 million Euros and all kept in a big suitcase
kept in a secret hide out. and also 86 kilos of gold which he kept
somewhere else. I will want to give you information about all what am
saying because seeing is believing. i am presently out of Libya because
we ran out during the war.
why am written you is because i want
you to take ownership of the funds and gold which my husband kept
because if people knows that it belongs to my late husband they will
size it and report to the Libyan government. my husband fight and died
for his master so please i have to keep everything secret until i hear
from you. and please all what am saying is just known by the both of us
and nobody else.
i have 4 children for my husband and nothing to
feed them here until i can get hold of what i just told you but i still
have to be very carefully not to lose the money or the gold. i will
share the money and the gold with you if you will assist me.
just
for you to claim ownership of the money and the gold i will give you
half of the money and half of the gold when it is under your control. i
will tell you how you can receive the money and the gold when i hear
from you. also every other details will be given when i see your
seriousness to help us receive the both items. please reply with:
rania.hassan02@yahoo.com
Madam Rania Hassan.
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