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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 states 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)
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Charles Koffi <poe_susan16@yahoo.fr>
Reply-To: Charles Koffi <chkoffi5@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2013 18:10:49 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: PAY ATTENTION
Greetings,
My name is Charles Koffi and my junior sister is Grace Koffi,I write this letter for myself and on behalf of my junior sister.We are the children of late Mr and Mrs John Koffi.
We wish to request for your assistance in a financial transaction because we want to invest in your country.We have Fifteen Million Five hundred thousand United States Dollars(US$15.5M ) to invest in your country.
We would want you to assist us by acting as the foreign business partner of our late father and the beneficiary of the fund to enable you receive the fund.
We would be glad to give you 20% of the total sum for your assistance. If you are interested to assist us,get back to us immediately for further explanation on how we will proceed.
I am waiting for your urgent reply,
Best regards,
Charles and Grace
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Anti-fraud resources:
