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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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "hundred thousand u.s 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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: fali islapha <bobalfreno114@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: fali islapha <falilapha01@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 5 Apr 2015 19:25:48 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Hello my dear
Hello my dear.
I am miss Fali Islapha the only Daugther of Mr.and Mrs.Masoud
Islapha.Though I have not met with you before but with your profile in
the site. I believe,one has to risk confiding in someone to succeed
sometimes in life.There is this huge amount of ten million five hundred
thousand U.S dollars ($10,500,000) which my late father deposited with a Finance firm here in Abidjan before he was assasinated by unknown
persons.Now I have decided to invest these money in your country or
anywhere safe enough outside Africa because of the insecurity and
political instability here in Africa.I want you to help me to transfer
this fund to your country for investment purposes.If you you can be of
an assistance to me i will like you to tell me what you will take from
the total fund when the investment is done.I await your reply, With love to you thanks.
Sincerely,
Miss Fali Islapha.
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Anti-fraud resources:
