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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- robabbey20@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "robabbey20@gmail.com" <robabbey20@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2017 18:17:37 +0100
Subject: Dear Friend
Dear
My late client Engineer N. C.Rostislav, whom i believe is your
relative having beared the same surname was involved in an auto crash
along ecowas express road including his wife and their two kids.
Unfortunately, all occupants of the vehicle lost their precious lives.
My late client left behind an unclaimed safe-deposit of US$9.6Million
in a Finance Security Company.
Please confirm the following information below:
[1] FULL NAME:---------------------------------
[2] COUNTRY:----------------------
[3] AGE:-------------------------
[4] SEX:-------------------------
[5] TELEPHONE:------------------
[6] FAX:----------------------------------
[7] OCCUPATION STATUS:--------------------
(8) YOUR PRIVATE E-MAIL;------------------
Contact me immediately for more information through this email box
only: robabbey20@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Mr. Rob Abbey.
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Anti-fraud resources:
