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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:
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Rachel Johnson <rachelfamily@hotmail.fr>
Reply-To: Rachel Johnson <rachelfamily1@yahoo.fr>
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2015 11:46:21 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Dearest in Christ.
Dearest in Christ. Greetings in the name of our Family; this is the second time l am contacting you  with regards to the charity work. I am Mrs. Rachel Johnson, an ageing widow suffering from longtime illness. I am currently admitted in a private hospital here in Abidjan the capital city of Cote d'Ivoire. I have some funds I inherited from my late loving husband Late Mr. Douglas G. Johnson, the sum of US$12.500, 000.00 which he deposited in a Bank here and I need a very honest and God fearing Christian that can use this funds for God's work and 15% out of the total funds will be for your compensation for doing this work of God. I found your address and i decided to contact you. Please if you would be able to use these funds for the Lord's work kindly reply me. Yours Sister. Mrs. Rachel Johnson.
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Anti-fraud resources:
