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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 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)
- "gracie-olakun50@outlook.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ms. Gracie Olakun" <choco-11.8.13@a011.broada.jp>
Reply-To: gracie-olakun50@outlook.com
Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2018 23:55:20 +0200
Subject: Greetings from an Orphan
Greetings from an Orphan
from: Ms. Gracie Olakun
West Africa
Please for security reasons reply to; (gracie-olakun50@outlook.com) if you
are willing and interested.
Permit me to inform you of my desire to go into business relationship with
you.
I got your contact and I prayed over it and selected your email among
other emails believing that you are a reputable and trustworthy person
that I can confide in. I urge you to have mercy on me and my brother
because we are in a desperate condition right now and we need your help
urgently, strongly believing that you will not betray this trust we are
reposing in you. My late father Mr. Olakun, before his tragic death
deposited the sum of ($5.5 million Dollars) in a bank. As his only
daughter he told me that he wanted to use the money to investment in real
estate business in a foreign country and he was searching for a perfect
investment partner before he died. From the attitude of my uncles during
the funeral, I decided not to fight to inherit my father’s properties
including his businesses because I suspected that they are the same people
that killed him and may also want to kill me and my brother. Therefore we
decided to go in search of this deposit which is the reason why we left
our country and came to this country where we are now. I am therefore
seeking your assistance to invest the money in your country or any other
country you seem safe and secure in a lucrative business while we go back
to school. I came here to the bank to make our claims known. I came with
the deposit agreement my late father made with the finance house. After
verifying the document with the one in their file, the finance house
accepted us as the next of kin but said that my father agreed with the
bank that the money will be invested by his foreign partner, and therefore
that the money will not be released to me unless I present the foreign
partner. That is the reason why I contacted you. I have the deposit
documents and the Letter of Acceptance the finance house gave to me
showing that they have accepted our claims. I will show you the documents
on request. You will also help me and my brother to relocate to your
country. Please if you can handle this project of investing the money,
kindly get back to me to enable me give you the contact of the finance
house and how we will claim the money for investment. This is the only
thing I can call my inheritance after the sudden death of my father and we
count on you. Please on your return mail send me your telephone number. I
will appreciate if you treat this matter confidentially.
Yours Faithfully.
Ms. Gracie and Brother.
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