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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Alphonse Tagro" <export@alhasawi.com>
Reply-To: alhonsetagro@yahoo.ca
Date: Sat, 28 May 2016 04:46:10 -0500
Subject: Expecting Your Response.
Dear,
My name is Alphonse Tagro From Cote d'Ivoire but I am at the moment
staying in Mozambique were we ran to for safety during the civil war
in my country with my sister Jane after the death of our parents.
I got your contact from the international business information centre
here in Mozambique and I decide to contact you.
My main purpose of contacting you is to seek your help in transferring
some amount of money which my late father deposited in an escrow
account with a bank here in Mozambique to your country and for you to
help me and my sister to come over to your country for the investment
of the money which you shall serve as the overseer and the
continuation of our education.
If you are willing to assist me and my sister as I have proposed, then
reply me at this email or call me on this phone number: +258869184893 and
I will give you more details and explanations.
I anxiously awaits for your response. God Bless You.
Yours sincerely,
Alphonse Tagro.
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Anti-fraud resources:
