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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:
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs.Tessy Tohouri" <tessytohouri@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "Mrs.Tessy Tohouri" <tessytohouri132@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2015 06:39:34 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Greetings in the name of lord
Hi dear ,
It is good to write today although we have not known or met before. My name is Mrs. TessyTohouri . I am married to Mr Martin Tohouri , who based in
Ivory Coast as
an investor for a period
of 19 years. He left a certain amount of 11 million US dollars with a financial institution in Ivory Coast. Recently, my doctor told me that I could not live for more than eight months from now , due to my cancer disease .
Having known
my condition I decided to donate this fund to an organization or good person that will use the benefit of the underprivileged. Using part of it to establish businesses that will create employment opportunities
for the unemployed is also a good idea. Any delay in your reply will give me room to find another good person for this same purpose. May God bless you for all you do on
your behalf.
greetings,
Mrs.Tessy Tohouri
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Anti-fraud resources:
