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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:
- "(ecowas)" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "markkoffigoh@ymail.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mark Kokou Koffigoh <kokoukoffigoh@ukr.net>
Reply-To: markkoffigoh@ymail.com
Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2012 08:53:24 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: SUPPLY OFFER
Attention please,
Your company Products and Items will be needed for Purchase and Supply in a larger quantity by the ECOWAS, I am an agent Sourcing for a company that can handle the supply of your company products. I will appreciate it more if you can give us with detail specification/price lists of your product / items.
And if you can handle any Contract Award or Consulting Services in the West Africa through the International Contract Board (ICB), for you or your company to apply for any of our ongoing Contract Award with any Ministries in West Africa and for consulting Services of any tender. I will be more happy if you can present your company as an eligible supplier who will handle this project as this order is from the Economic Community of West Africa State (ECOWAS).
Terms of Payment: An upfront payment of 80% (T/T) will be made to your account for production, while 20% will be paid before shipment. Get back to us immediately for more details and procedures.
Regards
Mr. Mark Koffigoh
Chief Executive Officer,
The Public Procurement Authority
Email:markkoffigoh@ymail.com.
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Anti-fraud resources:
