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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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a orphan scam.
- 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: linda 200 <linda200_love@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: linda1072@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2011 01:03:56 -0800 (PST)
Subject: HONEY THIS IS ALL ABOUT ME PLEASE HELP ME.
Hi Love,
I am happy i have found someone who is ready to share my pains and give me a shoulder to lean on. How is your day? hope all is fine.mine is not too ok in the orphanage home here in Dakar Senegal.In this orphanage home we are only allowed to go out only on Mondays and Fridays of the weeks.Its just like one staying in the prison and i hope by Gods grace i will come out here soon.We don't have any relatives now whom we can go to all our relatives ran away in the middle of the war the only person we have now is Rev.Benjamin Charles who is the pastor of the (Catholic Orphanage home ) here in the camp he has been very nice to me since i came here but i am not living with him rather i am living in the female's hostel because the camp have two hostels one for male the other for female .The Pastors Tel number is (+221766669925) if you call and tell him that you want to speak with me he will send for me in the hostel. As an orphan here i don't have any right or
privilege to any thing be it money or whatever because it is against the law of this country.
I want to go back to my studies because i only attended my first year before the tragic incident that lead to my being in this situation now took place.
Please listen to this,i have my late father's Deposit Certificate and certificate here with me which i will send to you latter,because when he was alive he deposited some amount of money in one of the leading bank in Europe which he used my name as the next of kin,the amount in question is $9.4M(Nine Million Four Hundred Thousand Dollars).So i will like you to help me transfer this money to your account and from it you can send some money for me to get my travelling documents and air ticket to come over to meet with you.I kept this secret to people in the Orphanage home here the only person that knows about it is the Rev rend because he is like a father to me.So in the light of above i will like you to keep it to yourself and don't tell it to anyone for i am afraid of loosing my life and the money if people gets to know about it.Remember i am giving you all this information due to the trust i deposited on you.
I like honest and understanding people,truthful and a man of vision,truth and Hardworking My favorite language is English and i speak English very fluently.Meanwhile i will like you to call me like i said i have a lot to tell you.Have a nice day and think about me.
Awaiting to hear from you soonest
Yours in love
LINDA
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