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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- mr.souleymanesawadogo1@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Souleymane Sawadogo" <1souleymanesawadogo@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mr.souleymanesawadogo1@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2022 17:17:09 +0000
Subject: NEED'S YOUR URGENT REPLY.
Dear Friend,
How are you doing today? I know that this message will come to you as
a surprise. I am the Auditing and Accounting section manager with Bank
Of Africa, Ouagadougou Burkina Faso. I Hope that you will not expose or
betray this trust and confident that I am about to repose on you for
the mutual benefit of our both families.
I need your urgent assistance in transferring the sum of ( $18.6 ) million
to your account within 10 or 14 banking days. This money has been
dormant for years in our Bank without claim. I want the bank to release
the money to you as the nearest person to our deceased customer.
who died along with his supposed next of kin in an air crash since May
12th 2010.
I don't want the money to go into the government treasury as an abandoned
fund. So this is the reason why I am contacting you so that the bank
can release the money to you as the next of kin to the deceased
customer. Please I would like you to keep this proposal as atop secret
and delete it if you are not interested.
Upon receipt of your reply, I will give you full details on how the
business will be executed and also note that you will have 40% of the
above mentioned sum if you agree to handle this business with me.
I am expecting your urgent response as soon as you receive my message
with your data information such as follow:
Your Full Name.............................
Your Address ..................................
Your Telephone.................................
Your National Card Identification
If this proposal is OK by you and you do not wish to take advantage of
the trust we hope to bestow on you and your company, then
kindly get to me immediately via my e-mail (
mr.souleymanesawadogo1@gmail.com )
furnishing me with your data informations as stated above, so that i can
forward to you the relevant details of this transaction.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated co-operation.
Best Regard,
Mr. Souleymane Sawadogo.
Ouagadougou Burkina Faso.
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