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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:
- "can i trust you?" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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: Lucy Akanki <akankilucy2@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Lucy Akanki <lucyakanki@yahoo.fr>
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2015 20:56:57 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Can I trust you?
Can I trust you?
Attention: Sir/Madam,
Firstly, I must solicit your confidence in this transaction and please accept my apology for sending you this sensitive information via mail without meeting you in person, this is due to the urgency and importance of the matter at hand. I am Miss Akanki Lucy the only daughter of Late Mr. & Mrs Michel Akanki who was a famous cocoa merchant based here in Abidjan the Economic capital of Ivory Coast ( Cote D'ivoire) Writing to seek your highly esteemed help/consent in a lasting Business relationship of mutual benefit involving $4.5 Million USD for investment in your company/country under a joint venture partnership, this is a very safe and risk-free involvement. For details of the transaction and source of fund contact reply for more information waiting for your earliest response.
Regards,
Miss. Akanki Lucy
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Anti-fraud resources:
