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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:
- "please indicate your interest" (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)
- "i got your email address from " (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Svatlana Jovanovska" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <svatlanajovanovsk@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 11:34:09 -0500
Subject: From Svatlana Jovanovska
From:Mrs Svatlana Jovanovska
My Dearest,
I got your email address from the internet during my search for an honest person and I contacted you personally because my heart tells me that you are the right person for these good intentions.My name is Mrs. Svetlana Jovanovska. I am 53 years old woman and I am legally married to late Mr. Ivanov Jovanovska.Me and my late husband where both citizens of Macedonia in Europe and we lived here in West Africa (Ivory Coast) for the past 18 years ago.My late husband worked with the PETROCI (www.petroci.ci) oil company as an expatriate here in Abidjan the economic capital of Ivory Coast for many years before he died in February 9th 2010.We were married for 26 years without a child.
My Husband left the sum of US$3.800 million United States Dollars in a fix/suspense account in one of the prime bank here in Cote d'Ivoire . Recently, my Doctor told me that I would not exceed more than five more months due to cancer problem. The one that disturbs me most is my blood pressure sickness. Having known my condition I decided to seek for your kind assistance to transfer this fund into your account and you will use it to train my adopted daughter who is 16yrs. You will take her as your God child and brought her up in a good and decent manner with what my late husband left behind.
I took this decision to contact you because of my health condition and for the facts that my adoptive daughter Vivian is still under age to manage the funds herself when I die. I have to achieve this aim and keep my adoptive daughter in a better position before joining my ancestors.Please indicate your interest and willingness in this transaction by writing back to me urgently and providing me the following information to enable us proceed.
FULL NAMES: ____________________________________
GENDER: ________________________________________
DATE OF BIRTH:___________________________________
COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE:__________________________
HOME ADDRESS:__________________________________
OFFICE ADDRESS:________________________________
TELEPHONE NUMBER:__________
OCCUPATION:______________________________________
YOUR PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS:_____________
I want your maximum cooperation and keep this as confidential for security reasons.I am sincerely waiting for your kind and urgent response as soon as your receive this mail.
Thanks and God bless you.
Sincerely Yours
Mrs Svatlana Jovanovska.
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