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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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned 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: Rose Williams <rosewilliams3@t-online.de>
Reply-To: "rosewillians662@yahoo.com" <rosewillians662@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2017 13:17:17 +0100 (CET)
Subject: Greetings my dear friend
Greetings my dear friend
From: Mrs Rose Williams . I am the above named person from Kuwait. I am
married to late Mr. Daniel Williams who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory
Coast for nine years before dying in 2011. We were married for twenty years
without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted only four days.
Before his death we were both born-again Christians and his family was
against us because we are formally Muslims. I have the sum of (2,950,000)
euros.) in the bank here in Abidjan in suspense account which i inherited
from my late husband. Recently, i have serious sickness which is cancer
problem and one that disturbs me most is my stroke sickness which almost
deformed me. Having known my condition and as a good Christian I decided to
donate this fund to a church or individual that will use this money the way
I am going to instruct here. To help, orphanages, widows, propagating the
word of God. I took this decision because I don’t have any child that will
inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians. My
happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Any delay in your
reply will give me room in searching another church or individual for this
same purpose. Hoping to receive your reply. Remain blessed in the Lord.
May The Hand of they Lord be upon You in Jesus Name Amen
Yours in Christ.
Best Regards
Mrs Rose Williams

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