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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:
- "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.
- 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.
- geogfranklin@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "US EMBASSY" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <geogfranklin@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:45:07 +0200
Subject: Notice Of Fund Transfer (MTN)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
US EMBASSY
Embassy of the United States of America
Plot 1075 Diplomatic Drive
Central District Area, Abuja.
Telephone: (234)-9-461-400
Fax: (234)-9-461-417
Sir
RE-NOTICE OF FUND THROUGH BARCLAYS AND EUROCLEAR NETWORK (MTN)
Be informed that our attention has been drawn to the fact that your payment which has long been approved to be made through an ATM Debit card and conventional wire transfer has yet to be delivered or made available to your account
Through our investigation as directed by the UN and the US Government as promised by President Barack Obama to revive the World Economy we found out that you are one of the victims of debit /ATM card and fund transfer diversion syndicate that has been going on in Nigeria and some other African Countries and even some Country in Europe
So to curb with this menace and make sure your funds get to you without any delay and also protect your account and identity from the criminals on the internet, we have reached agreement with Barclays bank and the Euro clear Bank with the approval of IMF and the World bank to have your payment made through a secured money transfer network called (MTN) which does not require you to send your bank account information to person or any institution
But rather a transfer link will be created and sent to you, which will be given to your bank with the network code to enable them access the fund and have it credited to your account without any delay
This measure was taken to protect beneficiaries from the ongoing account fraud and fund diversion
For more directives and clarification you are advised to contact the director of international transfer in charge of the (MTN) with Barclays bank
Dr. George Franklin
Tel. 447907982265
Fax.448452800287
Email. geogfranklin@aol.com
Be also informed that you are required to respond to this notice within 48hours from the date of this notice, you to send only your contact information for communication and also any photo ID as this payment method will only take 48hours without any delay.
Yours truly
Dr. Brian Browne
Sec. for Finance
brian@unitedstatesembassy-nig.com
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