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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million united state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From:
Date:
Subject: i ned your urgent reply
>From Harris
We are contacting you based on trust and wish that you will give us back the trust we have given to you. We are not looking for anything else but for someone with the fear of God or Allah and one who understands the spiritual implications of handling money meant for orphans. I am Harris and My younger sister Mary Kone I am 19 years' old while my younger sister is 16 years' old. We are from Sierra-Leone but residing in Ivory Coast West Africa.
We are humbly seeking for your guidance and assistance in migrating us to your country and also help us in transferring the sum of USD$6,000,000 (Six Million United State Dollars) inherited from my father late Alfred Kone.
We are motivated to contact you based on your profile we found in the Internet, As we will like to know you more better, we hope to gradually build trust, relationship and confidence in you as our step parents. So if you can be in position to assist us in any way, we will be glad and willing to offer you 10% of the total sum for your assistance in retrieving the money and effort input after the successful transfer of this money and investment. Indicate your interest towards assisting us by sending your Telephone and address so that we can communicate with you at any time. We need your expected guidance in investing the money in any profitable business investment of your choice in your country. If you are willing to assist us, Please kindly get back to us immediately.
We wait your kind assistance and soonest reply.
Thanks and God bless you.
Yours Sincerely
Harris And Mary Kone.
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Anti-fraud resources:
