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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:
- "million us 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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Laura Doudou" <orakle@4u.com.gh>
Reply-To: llldoudou010@yahoo.fr
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:32:46 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: re: Miss laura doudou
Dear respectful,
My full name is Ms Laura Doudou the daughter of former Interior Minister
Emile Boga Doudou of Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory coast) who was killed in the
September 19,2002. You can find on web page.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/africa/09/21/ivory/index.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2268718.stm
My mother died just last year due to heart attack. I want you to assist me
transfer Twenty two Million US dollars(US$22,000,000)left in a suspense
Account in one of the prime banks in France. I am looking for a God
fearing person to help me.
I am honourably seeking your assistance in the following ways:
1) To serve as my foriegn investor/guardian to claim this money with the
bank in question.
2) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country to further my
education
3)To help me invest the money in a profitable ventures in your country.
I am willing to send you documentation proves if you are interested. We
discuss your percentage also if you wouldn't mind.
I wait your kind response,
Best Regards
Ms Laura Doudou.
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Anti-fraud resources:
