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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)
- "calvary greetings" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- "remain blessed" (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.Esther Jakoma" <estherjakoma58@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "Mrs.Esther Jakoma" <ejakoma@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2017 18:36:31 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Calvary greetings dear
Calvary greetings dear, I am madam Esther Tagro from the nationality of kuwait, and i am married to Mr. Desire Tagro the former prime minister of the republic of cote d'ivoire who died at electional crises that broke out in 2010 that lead to his untimely death.I am currently addmitted in a general hospital in the capital city of abidjan because of my long lasted illness and what disturbs me most is my stroke illness which occured due to the sudden news of my husband death my reason why i am making this contact with you is for the seek pof your full sincerity and good heart with the fear of almighty God to make this donation of $ 2.000.000.00 usd deposited on my name by my late lovely husband and all what i requires is you sincerity and good heart and i hopes hearing from you for more details and build of trust. while in your next reply to my mail dear, i will want you to tell me more of you and alos give me your details such as per below: Your full name:
Your age:
your occupation:
your photo or passport id: Remain blessed as i awaits and expects your urgent reponse
Yours sincerely.
Thanks.
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Anti-fraud resources:
