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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:
- "might come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million 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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a orphan scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Natalie Nchawa <missjoliebabe1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Natalie Nchawa <blessedarethehandthatgiveth@outlook.fr>
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2018 23:49:42 +0900 (JST)
Subject: CRYING FOR HELP
Greetings from Natalie
Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.
This mail might come to you as a surprise and the temptation to ignore it as doubt could come into your mind but please consider it with a divine wish and
accept it with a deep sense of humility. Perhaps this would go down as the most difficult letter I will ever attempt to right in my life. I am not sure that it will adequately convey the remorse I feel at this moment.
My name is Natalie Nchawa. I am 21 years old orphan. My mother died when i was 2 yrs old. I am the only child of my late parents. My father was a wealthy man, he has lots of houses here in my country. He was poisoned by his siblings because they want to inherit his properties. They have succeded in chasing me away from home and they have seized all my dad's properties. My uncles who supposed to protect me were the one seeking to kill me because of wealth. My father died last week from the hospital, before he died he secretly called me by his side and wispered to me that his siblings poisoned him because of his wealth. He told me that he has a deposit of $6.8 million dollars in a bank which he used my name as his next of kin. He handed over the deposit slip the bank issued to him the day he made the deposit and advised me to look for a trustworthy foreign partner who will help me retrieve the money from the bank. He advised that once the money is
transferred abroad that i should leave the country before my uncles kill me. My dear it's true we don't know each other but i strongly believe in God who directed me to you that you will not cheat after receiving the money in your account. I am willing to give you 20% of the money if you accept to help me. I met with a lawyer but he explains that before the money will be transferred there are legal documents which must be obtained and submitted to the bank for approval. I don't know anything about this kind transaction so my dear if you are ready to help me, i will give you the contact of the lawyer so you can establish contact with him to know what should be done to get the money transferred to your bank account. I will also give you the deposit slip and my pictures. Please send me your phone number and address.
I look forward to hear from you.
Have a blissful day.
Sincerely
Natalie.
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