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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:
- "hundred thousand 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)
- "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: ceilline milan <ceilline300@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2015 13:34:39 +0000
Subject: From Miss Ceilline Milan
>From Miss Ceilline Milan
Abidjan Cote d'ivoire
West Africa
It is my pleasure to contact you for a business venture which I
intend to establish in your country. Though I have not met with you
before but I believe, one has to risk confiding in succeed sometimes
in life. There is this huge amount of sum of Five million, One hundred
thousand US Dollars ($5.1m) which my late Father kept for with a
Fiduciary Fund Holder in Abidjan before his death
Now I have decided to invest these money in your country or anywhere
safe enough outside Africa for security and political reasons.I want
you to help assist me claim and retrieve these fund from the Fiduciary
Fund Holders and transfer it into your personal account in your
country for investment purposes on these areas:
If you can be of an assistance to me I will be pleased to offer to you
15% Of the total fund. I await your soonest response.
Respectfully yours,
Miss Ceilline Milan
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Anti-fraud resources:
