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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- madammahakhalaff@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: MADAM MAHA KHALAF <madammahakhalaff@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 09:42:59 -0700
Subject: FROM MADAM MAHA KHALAF
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Dear Friend,
I hope my mail will fine you and your family in good health. My name
is Maha, i know it will be a big surprise for you to receive my email
because email like these fly over the internet telling people about
funds and every other things. but my self always receives offer from
the internet which i normally delete because i believe it will be scam
letter but please i beg you and i swear to the Allah i worship that
what am telling you is not a joke or a scam, if you follow everything
i have said in my letter both of us will be happy for the rest of our
life.
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 12.7 million Us Dollars and all
kept in a big suitcase kept in a secret hide out. and also 86 kilos of
gold which he kept somewhere else. I will want to give you information
about all what am saying because seeing is believing. i am presently
out of Libya because we ran out during the war.
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 4 children for my husband and nothing to feed them here until i
can get hold of what i just told you but i still have to be very
carefully not to lose the money or the gold. i will share the money
and the gold with you if you will assist me.
just for you to claim ownership of the money and the gold i will give
you half of the money and half of the gold when it is under your
control. 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 send me
your direct details and phone number so we can talk. please reply
with your information.
i also want you to know that the money and the gold are not in Libya
both of them are kept in different countries. i will let you know the
countries as soon as i hear from.this my email Address
{madammahakhalaff@yahoo.com}
i will wait for your reply
Regards
Madam Maha
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