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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:
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "trunk box" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Melinda Cojuangco" <melindacoju1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: melindacoju@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 12:47:40 -0300 (BRT)
Subject: Greetings from Mrs. Melinda
Greetings from Mrs. Melinda
Hello Dear,
My name is Mrs. Melinda Cojuangco, I am sorry the way these email came to you but I hope
you will understand that it’s out of circumstances that I have contact you.
I am the wife of Late Mr Lucio Cojuangco who was the former Philippines director of mineral
resources who was assassinated along side with our son in 2007 in connection with
government of Philippines due to greed and jealousy of his wealth.
I am writing you due to what I have suffered here by my late husband’s first wife and
her children in connection with the government because the first wife is a relation to
the
president of Philippines. This is because my late husband willed 70% of his assets to me
and my daughter which have been forcefully taken away from me by the first wife and her
children with the connections of her sister who is in the presidency.
In one of the envelop I received from my late husband’s lawyer, I saw a deposit certificate
and certificate of legalization documents for a security company abroad with a later
which explained to me that my late husband deposited a trunk box in a security company
which the box contains $23M USD in cash and Black diamond which worth $5M USD.
I am contacting you because I want you to help me in securing the money and help me
leave Philippines since the first wife of my late husband through the government now
monitor all my movement and also which right now I am leaving in absolute hardship
because they stripped me off all my late husband’s assets and left me with nothing.
I hope to trust you as you will not sit on this money when you claim it. I am ready to
give you 35% of the total money the diamonds for your assistance. If you are willing to
help me, I will wait to hear from you so that i will give you more details on how to
follow up.
God Bless you as you help.
Mrs. Melinda Cojuangco
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Anti-fraud resources:
