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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Prince Erediauwa <princeerediauwa1953@gmail.com>
Reply-To: prince_erediauwa110@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 10:34:43 +0000
Subject: ATTENTION SIR/MADAM
ATTENTION SIR/MADAM
GOOD DAY. MY NAME IS PRINCE EREDIAUWA. MY FATHER IS THE ROYAL HIGHNESS
OF BENIN EMPIRE. SINCE BIRTH I HAVE BEING LIVING IN SYRIA. BECAUSE
ACCORDING TO OUR TRADITION THE FIRST SON WILL NOT SET HIS EYES ON THE
KING WHEN THE OBA IS STILL ALIVE. I MOVED TO ISRAEL DUE TO THE
WAR IN SYRIA. WHERE MY ALUMINUM COMPANY WAS BURNT DOWN. WHAT I NEED
FROM YOU IS SINCERITY AND HONESTY AS I WILL LIKE TO LIVE AND
ESTABLISH IN YOUR COUNTRY. IF YOU WILL HELP ME OUT.
I HAVE THE SUM OF $6.1 MILLION USA DOLLARS. I WILL BE HAPPY IF YOU CAN
ASSIST ME RECEIVE THE FUND IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT. TO ENABLE YOU HELP ME
RENT AN APARTMENT. THEN THE REST MONEY WILL BE KEPT IN YOUR CUSTODY
TILL WE COME OVER TO YOUR COUNTRY TO ESTABLISH A VIABLE JOINT COMPANY
WITH YOU. ATTACH IS ME, MY DAUGHTER AND MY STEP SISTER JENNIFER.
THANK YOU.
PRINCE EREDIAUWA
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Anti-fraud resources:
