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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:
- "may come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "hundred thousand united states 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)
- This email message is a orphan scam.
Fraud email example:
From: williams suzan <williamssuzan36@yahoo.it>
Reply-To: williams suzan <williamssuzan23@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2012 13:36:47 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Hello Dear,
Hello Dear,
without any doubt i know that this mail may come to you as a surprise but it is borne out of genuine need for assistance. I am nelson Williams the only son of former finance director of sierra Leone gold and diamond corporation Mr John Williams who was assassinated by the rebel forces loyal to corporal Forday Sankoh during the peak of the civil war in our country Sierra Leone. Before my father died,he gave my mother a deposit slip and certificate for a secret deposit for the sum of usd16,500,000(sixteen million five hundred thousand united states dollars) he made with a bank here in Accra Ghana in a trust account. my mother who later died of hypertension six months after the death of my father,
on her sick bed she handed me the documents which the bank issue to my late father on the day he deposited the money and advise me to look for a trusted and reliable foreigner who will help us to transfer the money to abroad after which i and my younger sister Linda (19years) will join the person for the investment of the money in good business and for me and my younger sister to continue our education. This was the intention of my father before he died. We are seeking for your assistance to help us to transfer and invest this money in abroad .you will have 10% of the total money. You will stand as our guardian and the beneficiary of the fund in line with what my late Father told the bank at the time of deposit.
Please do not expose this transaction as there are a lot of bad things happening in the world now. We trust and hope that you will not seize the money when it is transferred to your account before we join you in your country.
God will bless you for assisting us.
Best regards
Nelson And Linda
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