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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)
- "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: "Mr. Wilson Kuku" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <wilson_kuku@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 11:36:56 -0500
Subject: Business proposal!!!.
Dear Sir,
The Economic community of West African states (ECOWAS) has obtained loan from the INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF) and the INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (IDA) . ECOWAS intend to apply part of this loan for the provision of infrastructure and social amenities AND Agricultural tools to its 15 member countries.
Ecowas has therefore opened a tender for the supply of different products to the commission. Tender Reference no: ECOWAS/15A/10XXX/GH
This Tender is open to Foreign suppliers whose company products meet international standards.
Send us your product list or catalog to forward your company.
I am an accredited (ECOWAS) commission agent
Mr Wilson Kuku
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Anti-fraud resources:
