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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "John Nkem Kwame" <kinhdoanh@vinatexland.net>
Reply-To: nkemkwame2@outlook.com
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2017 07:02:08 -0700
Subject: Dear Friend,
Dear Friend,
My name is John Nkem Kwame from Ghana but married to a Libyan,Aziza Mohammed.My wife was one of the late Gaddafi children. It was my wife who took Gaddafi family to Niger and Algeria when they ran from Libya.But she came back to Libya and died when their convoy was hit by NATO bomb.she told me something very important when she was alive. she told me how she took some money from Gaddafi son and kept it in a secret place. she said the money is US$2.2Million million kept in a big digital box.
I will want to give you information about all what am saying because seeing is believing.I am presently out of Libya because we ran out during the war. why am writing you is because I want you to take ownership of the funds which my wife kept because if people know that it belongs to my late wife they will size it and report to the Libyan government. my wife fought and died for her master so please I have to keep everything secret until I hear from you,this information is just known to both of us and nobody else.I have 4 children with my late wife and nothing to feed them here until I can get hold of what I just told you but I still have to be very carefully not to lose the money.I will share the money with you on a 50-50% if you will assist me.
I will tell you how you can receive the money when I hear from you also every other details will be given when I see your seriousness to help us receive the above sum. please send me your details like full names and address including your occupation and age.Find attached the picture of my wife with our 4 children.As a serious minded person I am on Skype where we can see on Skype video to build more trust if you wish.I will give you my Skype Identification when I receive your positive answer.
Regards,
John Nkem Kwame
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