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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:
- "00,000.00" (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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Nora alex <n.alex987123@gmail.com>
Reply-To: noraxalexx@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2021 14:38:57 +0000
Subject: Hi
I am Nora Alex a 16 year old orphan girl from Abidjan Ivory Coast.
I have $ 3,100,000.00 that I inherited from my late father and me now
decided to leave this country because of the bad treatment I have
i get from my uncles and i want to transfer the money to your
account to allow me to come to your country to start a
new life and
continue my education while you invest the money in a
lucrative activity
business because my life is in danger here, although we do not
let's never be met
in person but I think sometimes you have to risk
confide in another to be successful in this life. Please,
I need your help
because my uncles grabbed everything my late father left and only
this money remains with me. Please for god's sake save my life from
the hand of wicked uncles as they are ready to end my life for
make sure that they succeed in taking everything my father left me.
Truly
Nora Alex
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Anti-fraud resources:
