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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.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +22508658162 (Cote d'Ivoire, probably a prepaid mobile phone)
Fraud email example:
From: WILLIAMS SUSAN <williams.susan2@btinternet.com>
Reply-To: williamssusan_is2@yahoo.fr
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:20:48 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: FROM WILLIAMS AND SUSAN
FROM WILLIAMS AND SUSAN
Good day,
We are WILLIAMS and SUSAN NELSON from SIERRA LEONE. We are writing you from Rep of Cote d'Ivoire where we have been taking refuge after the brutal war and murder of our parents by the rebels during the renewed fighting in our country.
Because of the war our late Father sold his shipping company and took us to a nearby country Cote d'Ivoire to make a deposit of one of the Bank here which is sum of US $ 7,300 million in Abidjan the capital city of Cote d'Ivoire. Due to the current political situation in Cote d'Ivoire we are seeking for your assistance to transfer this Money and also
relocate to your country to further our study and we are willing to offer you 15% of the total sum for your help.
Regards
WILLIAMS AND SUSAN
THIS IS OUR TELEPHONE NUMBER +225 08 65 81 62
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Anti-fraud resources:
