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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ms. Bianca" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <funnbianca@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:34:53 +0100
Subject: RE: Where Is The Love We Spoke About!!!
Dear Sir/Madam
Compliments of the day.
How are you and your family? I hope you all are having a happy lives over there. I know my mail will come to you as a surprise but it is of good intention and the urgent need for your assistance to help me secure my inheritance in a bank vault. I am Ms Bianca Annabell Mustafa, 23years from Libya Republic. My father is from Libya and has his major oil and gas business across Libya and Egypt with base in Syria.
When the Libya coalition became vigorously dangerous, my mom being a victim, my dad quickly relocated us to Syria not knowing Syria will be the worst. My father died due to serious conflicts in the city. At his point of death in the hospital he told me that about a very big amount of money that he deposited in a Bank Vault Benin Republic, though his decision was to move it to Europe before his sudden death. He asked me to look for serious foreigner who can help invest the funds into a lucrative business abroad. He also told me that he already have notified the bank that am his apparent heir, this I have already verified from the bankers upon my arrival here in Benin last week.
Please keep this proposal highly confidential even if you do not want to work with me, please discard the message from your mailbox. The amount of money lodged in the bank is US$58Million (Fifty Eight Million United States Dollars) and 20% will be given to you if you can help me transfer the money out from Benin.
While I anticipate your positive response for further details and to send you my stunning photos.
Yours Truly
Ms Bianca Annabell Mustafa
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Anti-fraud resources:
