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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)
- "calvary greetings" (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: Mrs Lucy Roland <lucy65.roland@outlook.com>
Reply-To: Mrs Lucy Roland <ms_lucy65@excite.co.jp>
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2016 02:56:45 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Calvary Greetings to you
Calvary Greetings to you
I am Mrs Lucy Roland Williams 65 years old. an ageing widow suffering from long time illness as a result of Cancer. I am currently admitted in a private hospital here in Abidjan Cote D'Ivoire, I have some funds I inherited from my late loving husband Mr. Roland Williams who worked as the Regional Director with the SDV International Logistics for over 30 years, the sum of (3.2Million Euros) which he deposited in a Bank Here and I need a very honest and God fearing person that can use this funds for God's work and serve as a helper to the less privilege and widows over there in your country. The reason why is that we have no Child to inherit the Funds and my medical doctor told me the only way to survive is to go under surgery which has to do with life and death.
So i need someone who i can introduce to the Bank as my next of kin/beneficiary to the Funds before i travel abroad for my medical surgery.
Please if you would be able to use these funds for the Lord's work kindly reply me as soon as possible for more details .
Your Sister In The Lord.
Mrs Lucy Roland Williams.
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Anti-fraud resources:
