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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:
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing 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: "Dr. Ahmed Usman" <drahmedusmanecowasmanager@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "Dr. Ahmed Usman" <in2000196@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2015 19:55:29 +0900 (JST)
Subject: FROM ECOWAS REINMBOURSEMENT OFFICE.
FROM
ECOWAS REINMBOURSEMENT OFFICE.
Attention,
It
is our humble profound pleasure sending you this mail regardless of the fact
that we do not know each in person but based on the fact that we saw your file
that you have once been a victim of scam by some group of persons so we ecowas
have decided to reimburse back any amount you have spent and to protect the
image of Africa.
Furthermore,
you are required and requested to send to our office your full address,copy of
your international passport or ID card and your mobile phone number so that we
will give you more details on how you will be paid
Finally,
we awaiting for your prompt reply.
Best
regards,
Dr.
Ahmed Usman operational manager
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Anti-fraud resources:
