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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.
- 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:
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "trunk box" (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)
- "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 orphan scam.
- 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.
- helen.arah@yahoo.com.ph (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Helen Akah <h.akah@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: Helen Akah <helen.arah@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 16:45:19 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: HI
Hello Dear,
My name is Helen, I am a female and the only child to late top cocoa dealer Mr. Mark Akah who died as a result of food poisoning suspected to be given to him by the plans of his colleaques and relatives because of his fame and wealth, my mother died when I was 6 years old. I inherited a total sum of Six Million US Dollars ($6.000.000..00 US dollars from my late parents. Which he Deposit in a security company here in Cote D'Ivoire and he deposited the money as family valuables in a trunk box.
The reason he deposited the box money was because of the political problems that is going on in this country Cote D'Ivoire.My Dear what i am telling you is that i am just a young girl and there is little or nothing i could do on my own and again if my late father relative find out that my late father left that kind of money in my care i don't know what they might do to me, so i need you to help me contact the security company and claim the deposited Item for me as my late father business partner and Guandian, and take me along with you.
If you do this for me apart from the love i will also offer you 10% of the total money for helping me.
Please i requested for your trust and understanding because it might sound unbeleivable but it is the truth. Please get back to me via my private email address ( helen.arah@yahoo.com.ph ) as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Miss Helen Akah.
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