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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:
- "any lucrative business in your country" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "remain blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Miss Rita Adams <ritaadams000@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: Miss Rita Adams <rita_adams202@yahoo.fr>
Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2015 02:42:34 +0900 (JST)
Subject: My Dearest Partner,
My Dearest Partner,
I am Ms. Rita Adams the only child of my Late parents, being that I
lost my parents few years back. My Father was a serving director of the
Cocoa exporting board until his death.
He died in a motor accident after he was rushed to the hospital few
years ago, Before he died he disclosed to me about the fund he deposited
in the bank here and told me to seek for a reliable / Trustworthy
partner in abroad to help me invest the money for my future and the
amount is US$5.5m dollars.
According to my father when he was aliVe the money is meant for onward
transfer to the partner in abroad for investment and Please i want you
to look for any Lucrative business in your country where we can invest
the fund as i am still a young girl of 22years old and do not have an
idea of investment.
This is my reason for writing to you. Please if you are Interested to
assist me you can contact me as soon as possible for more details.
Please for your information i have set aside 25% from the total amount
for your assistance to me at the end of the transaction.
Remain Blessed
Rita.
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