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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:
- "million 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)
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "calvary greetings" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Nimasha Rajitha <andn2011@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: nimasharajitha@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 06 Jan 2016 18:10:53 +0000
Subject: Re:Please This Is Very Urgent
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Calvary Greetings in the name of the Lord
I am Mrs Nimasha Rajitha from switzerland I am married to Late
Mr.Rajitha Rahan who is a wealthy business man here in Ivory Coast .We
were married for many years with out a child before he died after a
brief illness.
Before his sudden death we where devoted christian.When my late
husband was alive he deposited the sum of Three Million US Dollars
($3.000.000.00) in one of the firm here in Ivory Coast.
I am very sick from Kidney cancer that I may not last till the next
two months according to the doctor"s report.For this reason,I decided
to donate this money to a honest individual who will use it for God's
work such as orphans, widows and building of churches to fulfill the
vow I and my late husband made to God.
I have choosen you after my fasting and praying and I want this money
to be use as I have said since I do not have any child to inherit
this fund and our relatives are all unbelievers and I don't want our
hard earned money to be used in an ungodly way so you will take 15%
of the fund for your efforts and use the remaining as I stated above.
As soon as I read from you I will give you more details on how to
achieve this goal.
I need your urgent reply as I dont know what tomorrow will result.
Your Sister In The Lord
Mrs Nimasha Rajitha.
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