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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:
- "million us 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)
- "abuja" (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: "Mrs. Siene Allwell-Brown" <neleb_542007@yahoo.com.ph>
Reply-To: foreigndeptpayfund@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2012 21:22:26 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: SECURITY CHECK
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa House
Federal Secretariat
P.M.B. 130, Garki
Abuja.
GOOD DAY TO YOU AND HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY?
WE ARE WRITING TO INFORM YOU THAT WE HAVE JUST RECEIVED AN ORDER FROM
THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, HIS EXCELLENCY
PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN NOT TO CANCEL YOUR YOUR LONG
OVER DUE TRANSFER OF $15.5 MILLION US DOLLARS.
RATHER HE SAID WE SHOULD GIVE YOU ANOTHER CHANCE TO MAKE CLAIM TO YOUR FUND.
TO THIS END THIS MORNING IT WAS CONCLUDED AND CONFIRMED THAT YOUR FUND TRANSFER IS READY TO BE RELEASED TO YOU NOW.
HOWEVER FOR YOUR SECURITY CHECK AND SAFETY REASONS WE HAVE BEEN ASKED
AND DIRECTED TO INFORM YOU THE BENEFICIARY TO PLEASE RE-CONFIRM YOUR
CORRECT AND EXACT BANKING DETAILS WHICH YOU WISH YOUR FUND TRANSFERRED
INTO SO THAT THERE ARE NO MISTAKES OR MISPLACEMENT OF TRANSFER AT THE
POINT AND TIME OF YOUR FUND TRANSFER TODAY.
CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU AS WE WAIT TO RECEIVE YOUR RE-CONFIRMED CORRECT
BANKING DETAILS TO ENABLE US EFFECT YOUR TRANSFER CORRECTLY.
RESPOND BACK IMMEDIATELY.
MRS. SIENE ALLWELL-BROWN
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS DEPARTMENT (IOD).
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Anti-fraud resources:
