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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:
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned 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: "Ms. Sarah" <sarah_williams20012000@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: "Ms. Sarah" <sarah_abdulahi@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 19:35:28 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Mme Sarah Abdulahi.
Bonne Journée.
Je suis Mme Sarah Abdulahi. Je vous contacte car je ai besoin de votre aide urgent d'obtenir l'argent que mon défunt père conservé dans la banque ici, sur mon nom avant sa mort. Cet argent est (7,500.000 US $) et l'argent est dans une banque ici à Abidjan.
Se il vous plaît me répondre pour moi de vous donner d'autres détails.
vôtre soeurs faithfuly en Allah.
Mme Sarah Abdulahi.
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Good Day.
I am Ms Sarah Abdulahi . I am contacting you because I need your urgent help to secure the money that my late father kept in the bank here on my name before he died. This
money is (US$7,500.000) and the money is in a bank here in Abidjan.
Please Reply me for me to give you other details.
yours faithfuly Sister in Allah.
Ms. Sarah Abdulahi.
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Anti-fraud resources:
