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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "hundred thousand 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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- mariam_00ahmed@yahoo.co.jp (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Miss Mariam <mymsn2004@msn.com>
Reply-To: mariam_00ahmed@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2012 19:39:04 +0800 (CST)
Subject: Dearest Respectful One.
Dearest Respectful One.
I am writing you this message with tears
and sorrow of what political crisis has caused to me and please for
God¡¯s sake I want you to consider this my proposition and rescue me out
of this critical condition that I am facing here because my life is at
stake in this country.
My name is Miss Mariam Ahmed 19 years of
age and the only child of late Mr. & Mrs. Ahmed. We are from Duekoue
town being the highest Cocoa producing town in Cote d¡¯Ivoire (Ivory
Coast) here but lives in Abidjan the economic capital of the country. My
late father use to be one of the famous and wealthy Cocoa producers
here before he was shut with my mother on the 4th March 2011 in our
house by the rebels loyal to Mr. Alassane Dramane Ouattara because my
late father use to be a well known supporter of the Ex- arrested
president Mr. Laurent Gbagbo,
oh may their gentle souls rest in peace.
My parents were shut by
the rebels right in my present in our house by 2:30 pm after we took
our lunch together and decided to take some rest. My mother died instant
while my father died in the hospital where he was rushed to after 48
hours. Before my father finally gave up the ghost he secretly told me
that there is an amount of U$3,500,000,00(Three Million Five Hundred
Thousand United State Dollars) which he left in a suspense account in a
bank here in Abidjan with my name as the next of kin of the deposit of
the fund.
He gave me an outstanding instruction that incase if he
did not survive the situation that I should without delay seek for a
God fearing person abroad who can assist me to claim the fund from the
bank here and get the money lodged into his or her account and the
person must help me to come over to his or her country to establish a
new life and further my study.
He also
invited the bank manager and introduced me to him and instructed him
that they should transfer the fund to any foreign account that I may
provide to them if he did not survive and the banker agreed with him. My
late father has been buried on the 28th of April and considering the
killing of innocent people by the supporters of the arrested ex
president Mr. Laurent Gbagbo the security of life and properties are no
longer guaranteed in this country.
For this reason I seek your
assistance in transferring of the fund from the bank here to your
account and help me to come over your country to establish new life and
further my study while you invest the money in a lucrative business in
your country. Please your kind assistance is highly needed in
transferring of this fund to your account as I have decided to offer you
15% of the total sum for your kind assistance in getting the money
transferred to your account and 5% aside which will cover any incident
expenses that may be incurred during the process of transferring of the
fund to your account.
I will be sending you the deposit
documents of the fund that my late father handed to me for your perusal
as soon as I receives your positive response of your assistance to me in
this regards.God bless you as you extends your helping hand to a needy
fellow like me. Please get back to me Urgently on this E-mail
(mariam_00ahmed@yahoo.co.jp).
I will be waiting.
Sincerely.
Miss. Mariam Ahmed.
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