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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:
- "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: LINDA SANTORS <linda.santors@btinternet.com>
Reply-To: linda_santors33@cantv.net
Date: Sun, 9 May 2010 23:00:03 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Dearest One.
Dearest One.
After reading your profile on the internet I became interested in you and also want to know more better you.My name is Linda Santors, 19 year old girl a student, my late father was a former gold minister in Sierra-Leone before he was killed by the group of rebel.
Before the death of my father, he called me one early morning which is still fresh in my memory and told me of some money he had deposited into a fixed account in a bank here in Ivory Coast Abidjan for my schooling and some other needs when I am old enough to take care of myself.Now, since my father is late and our family members are after me to kill me so as to inherit my fathers wealth, I kindly seek your help in claiming this funds from the Bank and invest it into a business in your country while you shall also help me get a visa into your country so that I can further my education and we live together happily.The reason why I seek your help is because I am still a little girl and cannot go for claims of that funds from the Bank because of my age status.I shall send you the bank here contact details as fathers business partner overseas and shall forward all the deposit documents to you as soon as I can confide in you that you would not sit on the
funds after it gets to your care.I also want you to reply to me immediatelly as the political status of this country is not safe for me.Also send me your telephone number in your reply so that i can call you for discussions.
Thanks.
Sincerely.
Linda Santors.
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Anti-fraud resources:
