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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.
- +22507192363 (Cote d'Ivoire, probably a prepaid mobile phone)
Fraud email example:
From: Tony Savimbi <tonysavimbi20@rediffmail.com>
Reply-To: rose_2camara@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2011 15:33:37 +0100 (BST)
Subject: My Dear Urgently
My Dear Urgently
I am Tony Savimbi the son of Late former Angola rebel leader Jonas Savimbi
living in The Abidjan- Cote D'Ivoire , I am in position of ($35.5Miilion)
USD which I intend to invest in Real Estate, Factory or any profitable
investments in your country. I am looking for a reliable person that will
help me to invest this money. Kindly update me if you can represent my
interest or if there is any other lucrative Business in the area related
to your fields do not delay to get back to me as soon as possible with
further details. Please, replies to my personal email address: for
anticipate cooperation. Thanks
Best regard Tony Samvibi+225 07 19 23 63
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Anti-fraud resources:
