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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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: "believe.akbar ashab" <believe.akbarashab@gmail.com>
Reply-To: a.akbarnora@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 07:04:33 -0700
Subject: hi
--
Dear Friend,
I hope my words will find you good health in your life. My name
is Akbar Nora, i know it will be a big surprise for you to receive
my message but please i believe that you will be honest to me and i swear
to the Allah i worship that
what am telling you is what i am facing in my life now, if you follow
everything i have
said in my letter both of us will be happy for the rest of our life.
I am from Libya and my husband is one of the late Gaddafi sons driver.
it was my husband who took Gaddafi family to Niger and Algeria when
they ran from Libya. but he came back to Libya and died when their
convoy was hit by NATO bomb. but he told me something very important
when he was alive. he told me how he took some money from Gaddafi son
and kept it in a secret place. He said the money is in Us Dollars
$10.5 million Us Dollars and also 40 kilos of gold which he kept in one of
Biggest security company in Ghana. I am in Federal Refugee camp now in only
speaks to my son and he write this details before i send to you because i
have all my trust and believe in you that with your assistant that i will
have success with you and my son.
Why am written you is because i want you to take ownership of the
funds and gold which my husband kept because if people knows that it
belongs to my late husband they will size it and report to the Libyan
government. my husband fight and died for his master so please i have
to keep everything secret until i hear from you. and please all what
am saying is just known by the both of us and nobody else.
I have only 1 son Mustafa Akbar, for my husband and nothing left for me to
take care of
my son also my self and i believe with your understanding that what i tell
you is my life and that is what i can use to be happy in life again also
i want to take it carefully not to lose the money or the gold. i will give
%30 from the fund if you will assist me. I will tell you how you can receive
the money and the gold when i hear from you. also every other details
will be given when i see your seriousness to help us receive the both
items. please note that this Items is not in Libya and when i hear from you
i will tell you on how you can contact the security company where my husband
Deposit the Items
Yours Truly,
Akbar Nora
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