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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:
- "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)
- "your humble assistance" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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: Joan Nancy <joannancy@voila.fr>
Reply-To: joannancy110@ymail.com
Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2012 16:04:04 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: Good day and God bless
Good day and God bless
My name is Miss Joan Nancy.
Address: 22 BP 542 Abidjan 22 - Abidjan.
Profession: Student (I stopped school after my father death)
Nationality : Ivorian
Country: Cote D'Ivoire.
I am the only daughter of late Chief David Tagro. My father died of food poison in 2010. Since his death, things have completely changed and my life became miserable. I have here some documents which my father gave to me secretly before he died in the hospital about the deposited of $6.500,000.00 (Six Million Five Hundred Thousand United sate dollars) he kept with financial company in my name and I have verified this with the Financial Company before contacting you. I shall require you help me to transfer this money to your country.
Due to the situation I found myself I have decided to invest this money in your country, i need a business partners reliable and trust worthy to manage my father's asset.
I wish to request for your assistance in my investment plans in your country . please do not hesitate to contact me for further details and also hope you will handle this transaction with almost confidentiality and transparency it deserve I am in a sincere desire of your humble assistance in this regards. Your suggestions and ideas will be highly regarded.
Awaiting for your reply!
Best Regards,
Miss Joan Nancy.
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