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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:
- "activation fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "mohammed sri" <anita@boi.com>
Reply-To: mohammedsri97@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:59:03 +0530
Subject: STANDARD CHARTERED BANK(MALAYSIA)BERHAD
Attention: ,
This is Standard Chartered Bank. We want to inform you that we have
received a warning from the Bank Negara malaysia, stating that if you
do not make claim to your
funds domiciled in our escrow account that they will declare your
funds totaling USD$10 million redundant fund and transfer it to
government escrow accounts.
We are informing you this because this fund has been dormant in this
bank since 2010 and you have neither contacted us or applied for its
release.
Do officially apply for it's release if the fund is yours. And also
confirm that the information we have in our database and in your
payment file is correct.
Note that the only thing you are required to do is to ensure that you
apply for the fund release and then activate the dormant account, this
way the Bank Negara which
is our regulatory monetary authority will then issue us the clearance
that the fund is no longer at risk of been confiscated by government,
then we can go ahead and
make the transfer to your account on your confirmation.
Please also note that the activation fee is only USD$1,800 dollars.
With this your fund account will be activated and ready to transfer
your fund to your bank
account.
Sincerely,
Sri Mohd Mohammed
Operations Manager
Standard Chartered Bank
Disclaimer: This email and any attachments to it may be confidential
and are intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is
addressed. Any views or
opinions expressed aside our banking ethics and policies are solely
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Standard
Chartered Bank.
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