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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "sani abacha" (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.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- peace.movements@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "MOHAMMED ABACHA" <peace.movements@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 03:26:23 +0800
Subject: RE: CAN I TRUST YOU ON THIS INVESTMENT, GET BACK TO ME.
DEAR SIR,
THIS IS NO JOKE AND I AM NOT CONTACTING YOU TO WASTE YOUR PRECIOUS TIME NOR MINE.
MY NAME IS MOHAMMED ABACHA. I AM THE ELDEST SON OF LATE GENERAL SANI ABACHA WHO WAS THE
FORMER PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA. YOU CAN GET THE INFORMATION ABOUT MY FATHER IN A GOOGLE
SEARCH.
I HAVE AN INHERITANCE OF ONE BILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS (US$1BILLION) WHICH I WANT TO
INVEST IN PROPERTIES ABROAD. I AM INTERESTED IN BUYING HOTELS AND NIGHT CLUBS OR A
FOOTBALL CLUB ABROAD. I AM MAPING OUT 10% OF MY INHERITANCE TO YOU IF YOU CAN HELP ME
ACHIEVE MY DREAMS. I AM PRESENTLY IN USA AND MY PHONE NO IS 206 632 7012 AND MY EMAIL
ADDRESS IS ( peace.movements@hotmail.com )
KIND REGARDS,
MOHAMMED ABACHA
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Anti-fraud resources:
