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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 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)
- "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)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "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: Rapheal Balie <rbalie3303@yahoo.ca>
Reply-To: balierapheal@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2010 15:12:24 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Your Reply From Mr. Rapheal.
Hello,
I am Mr. Rapheal Balie an Accountant in a Bank here in Abidjan. I and my colleagues have an amount of US$28,000,000.00 Dollars belonging to one Gen Robert Guei who was shot dead together with all his family years ago by the Government soldiers here on an accusation of plotting a failed coup de etat.this money was US$58,000,000.00 Million dollars but some have been used in the importation of arms by the General before he met the unexpected death.
I know that there are lots of business opportunities there in your country hence I decided to contact you based on the fact that part of this money will be invested in your country with you being in charge of any business that is going to be esterbulish as joint ventures. I have all the necessary documents involved in the deposition and the withdrawal of the part of the money and the next of kin was his unknow foreign partner whom will never show up. Now I want you to stand as the next of kin and help us transfer this amount of money out from here.This business is 100% risk free and I will prepare all the documentation and prove the source of the fund before the transfer.
I advice you to think very well before responding because we need a very strong hand in this transaction. Your percentage and other important details will be discussed once I confirm your kind willingness in helping to the transfer and on that note I will give you the full details on how we proceed.
I await your postive response.
Sincerly Yours,
Mr. Rapheal Balie.
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