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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)
- "million us dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Janete Moon <janetemoon4@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Janete Moon <janete.moon9@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2017 02:37:24 +0900 (JST)
Subject: I Need Your Help
Hello my Friend,
Good morning.I know this mail may come to you as a surprise please i saw your email address through an online business directory during my search for an honest person and I contacted you personally because I seriously needed your assistance. My name is Janete Moon; I am 21 years old girl and the only child of my late parents Mr. and Mrs.Justina Moon. My father worked for many years with an oil and gas drilling company and he deposited the sum of.Five million, Eighth hundred thousand dollars (5.8 Million US Dollars only) in my name before he died in 2014. and during this deposit, my father had an agreement with the bank that the money will not be given directly to me until I am 25 years of age or above.
Please I want you to help me transfer this money to your bank account for
investments and also help me come over to your country to continue my education because my uncle wants to kill me and collect my inheritance money from me because I am a little girl.
I have reported him to the local Police of my country (Ivory Coast) but the Police have not done anything to help me since then and my life is at big risk here in my country. I am writing this mail to you from a local hotel where I am presently hiding for my safety until I travel out from my country after the transfer. I am willing to offer you 20% ( 960, 000 U.S. dollars ) of the total funds as compensation for your help after the transfer and I want you to reply me urgently if you accept to help me so that I will send you more
details.
Thank you and God bless.
Yours affectionately
Ms. Janete Moon.
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Anti-fraud resources:
