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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:
- "may come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "remain blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Linah Mohohlo" <lina@no-log.org>
Reply-To: linahmohohlo200@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 25 May 2017 10:21:44 +0200
Subject: It is a pleasure to write you.
From Mrs. Linah Mohohlo
The Former Governor of
the Bank of Botswana.
Good day,
Firstly I would like to introduce myself; my name is Mrs. Linah Mohohlo
from Botswana. I am the former governor of the Bank of Botswana you can
view the profile on the panel members
at(http://www.africaprogresspanel.org/panelmember/linah-mohohlo/) and read
about me. Please I know this may come to you as a surprise,because you
did not know me. I sincerely need your assistance discretely because of my
high business associations,Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the lord will fight
my case and I shall hold my peace.
I suffer from cancer and recently my Doctor informed me that due to my
poor health condition I would not be able to stay alive past the next
three months due to the cancer. None the less what disturbs me mostly is
the stroke I suffered. Having known my condition I decided to donate these
funds to a church or better still a Christian individual that will utilize
this money the way I am going to instruct here in. I want an individual
person or church organization that will use the funds for churches,
orphanages, research centers and widows propagating the word of God and to
ensure that the house of God is maintained. The Bible made us to
understand that blessed is the hand that gives, I took this decision
because I have a child that will inherit this money but my son cannot
carry out this work alone. I therefore decided to use some of the money to
work for God and live some for my son to have a better future.Reply me and
i will give you more details.
Remain blessed in the name of the Lord.
Mrs. Linah Mohohlo and only Son Favor.
God’s favor is sufficient for me.
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