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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million us 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)
- 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.
- madammahakhalaff@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: MADAM MAHA KHALAF <madammahakhalaff@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2014 07:28:42 -0700
Subject: I NEED YOUR HONEST
*Dear Friend,I hope my mail will fine you and your family in good health.
My name is Maha, i know it will be a big surprise for you to receive my
email because email like these fly over the internet telling people about
funds and every other things. but my self always receives offer from the
internet which i normally delete because i believe it will be scam letter
but please i beg you and i swear to the Allah i worship that what am
telling you is not a joke or a scam, if you follow everything i have said
in my letter both of us will be happy for the rest of our life.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 Us Dollars 12.7 million Us Dollars 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 send me your direct
details and phone number so we can talk. please reply with your
information.i also want you to know that the money and the gold are not in
Libya both of them are kept in different countries. i will let you know the
countries as soon as i hear from.this my email Address
{madammahakhalaff@yahoo.com <madammahakhalaff@yahoo.com>}i will wait for
your replyRegardsMadam Maha*
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