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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing 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: ANSAH GHANA LIMITED <egonwalker@gmail.com>
Reply-To: ansahghanalimited@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 15:38:05 -0700
Subject: ECOWAS Procurement Commission
Dear Sir/Madam,
Following the request from the ECOWAS Procurement Commission,Mandating
our company as an accredited sourcing agent to the ECOWAS to source
for a reputable and reliable company for the Project 2013/2014 for
supplies of products for a sustainable development and empowerment
programs in all the ECOWAS regions.
We write to seek your interest to supply your company's products to
the ECOWAS Procurement Commission. Please if you are interested, we
would like to have your full product specification and who is
in-charge also note that all prices must be CNF.
Awaiting your earliest reply.
Yours Faithfully,
Mr.Richard Ansah
Ansah GH LTD
Nkrummah Avenue,
Accra-Ghana.
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Anti-fraud resources:
