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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million us 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: rose odunkwa2012 <roseodunkwa2012@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 13:00:00 +0000
Subject: hello.
good day my dear, I am writing this message if it touches your heart to rescue a soul in distress. I am Ms. rose odunkwa. 18 years and presently taking refuge in an small orphanage guest house as a result of the wickedness my uncle and relatives meted out to me after loosing both my parents and only brother in a ghastly motor accident two years ago. I thought i could bear the maltreatment but it dawned on me that they rather wanted me out of their way to inherit everything my parents worked for.I have been withdrawn from school,life has been so hard. I have reasoned to writing this mail to seek immediate help if only you will not think otherwise because i do not know anything about you but, I truly seek for somebody who can stand as my guardian of trust to lay claims to the sum my late father left for me before his untimely death. Before the death of my father, he has $5.5 million US Dollars in a fixed deposit domiciliary account with a bank in Accra - Ghana, which I am the next of kin. I humbly need your assistance in transferring this found for ?in??vestment. As i write this mail to you now,i have been robbed of so many things my parents left only this document that i stumbled at in my father's bedroom which made me to flee from kumasi to Accra the capital city of Ghana where i take refuge. Be kind enough to reply me so that we could discuss and i be willing to give further details upon your request. I shall forward to you the necessary documents on confirmation of your acceptance and readiness to assist me on this project. I am also willing to compensate your effort at the end in achieving this goal with 25% of the total funds for your assistance and the help rendered. Thank you for your understanding and on hearing from you i will give you more details. please reply.
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Anti-fraud resources: