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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:
- "hundred thousand united state 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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "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: Vera wilfried <vera.wilfried1@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: Vera wilfried <verawilfried@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Mon, 1 May 2017 21:47:21 +0900 (JST)
Subject: From Vera Wilfried
From Vera Wilfried
Hello,
I
am Ms Vera Wilfried from Abidjan Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast).I am 22
years old girl orphan that is as a result of i have no parent I have
about ($10.500,000.00 United state dollars ) Ten million, five hundred
thousand united state dollars. Which i inherited from my late father he
Deposited the fund in fixed / suspense
account in one of the prime bank here in Abidjan, my father used my
name as his only daughter and only child for the next of kin to the
fund.
Secondly on your full acceptance to work with me regarding
this
purpose kindly indicate your interest by reply back to me so that I
will furnish you with the needful information and the details on how to
proceed further , i will offer you 20% of the
money for you for your help to me.
May God bless you for your
prompt attention. My best and lovely Regards to you and all your family
as you contact me for more details
I need your help if you are sure to help me to invest the fund in your county contact me now for more details.
Thanks
Vera Wilfried
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Anti-fraud resources:
