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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.
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ms. Mariah Raflat" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mraflat@yahoo.cn>
Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2011 08:15:30 +0800
Subject: A plea for help
A plea for help!
Greetings,
I am Ms. Mariah Raflat from Benghazi Libya presently in CHINA. I am 23 years and the only Daughter of Late Mr. Mohammed Raflat, one of the leaders of the Libya National Oil Corporation (NOC). My hope is to look for a good person or company that will assist me to claim a deposited FUND with a BANK here in CHINA, due to the local war going on in my country. My Father was killed in this war including all other members of my family by the Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
The total fund is USA$4.5Million. I will give you 30% after assisting me to finish this business. Please I need your assistance to finalize this transaction. Upon receiving a positive response from you, all details will be made available to you on how to proceed. I wait to see your urgent respond to this mail.
I can be reached on here in China +8613532374293. You can as well send your mobile number to me so that I can call you for more details.
Sincerely,
Ms. Mariah Raflat.
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Anti-fraud resources:
