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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Ibrahim Ahmed <mribrahimahmed11@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 01:30:05 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: URGENT REPLY
 Dear Friend,
I am Mr. Ibrahim Ahmed a banker, i know that this mail will come to you as a surprise as we have never met before, but need not to worry as I am contacting you independently of my investigation and no one is informed of this communication. I need your urgent Cooperation in transferring the sum of $11.3million immediately to your private account.The money has been here in our Bank lying dormant for years now without anybody coming for the claim of it.
The fund belong to our deceased Customer Mrs.Joy Lake who perished along with her family since January 31 2000. The Banking laws here does not allow such money to stay more than 16 years,that is the reason why i need your Cooperation in transferring the money to your bank account so that we can use it to secure the future of our both families because i don't want the money to be recalled to the bank treasury as unclaimed fund.
By indicating your interest I will send you the full details on how the business will be executed. Please keep this proposal as a top secret and delete if you are not interested.
Best Regards,
 Mr Ibrahim Ahmed
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Anti-fraud resources: