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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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a orphan scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Joy St. Germain" <habiba1012222@gmail.com>
Reply-To: germainjoy8@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2022 11:26:52 +0100
Subject: PLEASE ARE YOU
Excellent
Good Day Sir/Madam I
Trust You Doing Great
Greetings I know that this letter may be a very big surprise to you,
but please consider it a divine wish and accept it with a deep sense
of humility, am the only daughter of my later parents who died
untimely in an Egypt Air crash of 1999. You can view this web site for
your perusal and find the names of my parents who also perished in
that ill-fated air disaster. Since then I have been living with this
pain till date.
My late father was a very wealthy cocoa merchant based in Abidjan
Cote Ivoire. However since the death of my late parents I have lived
with the memories, before their death my late parents they had a joint
account and deposited sum of $3,500.000.00USD Three Million Five
Hundred Thousand United State Dollars left in a bank. All I need from
you is Truthfulness, Honesty and Sincerity assuring me that you can in
all honesty and obedience utilize the funds for it purpose and you
will use %20 of this fund for your effort input after the successful
transfer of the fund to your nominated account.
All documents and proves to enable you get this fund are here with
me. If you are interested send your personal details to enable us
proceed.
Kinds Regards
Joy St. Germain
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Anti-fraud resources:
