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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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge sum of money" (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)
- "million united states 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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "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)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "nigeria national petroleum corporation" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "lagos" (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: "REX UKEH" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <rexukehlawson@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2010 13:24:34 +0100
Subject: R L U
ENGR.REX LAWSON UKEH.
NIGERIA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION.
FALOMO OFFICE COMPLEX,
IKOYI - LAGOS.
EMAIL;
REQUEST FOR URGENT ACCOUNT
I am ENGR.RREX LAWSON UKEH a director in the project and planning department of
the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC),I head a seven man Tenders
Board Committee in charge of contract award and Payment approvals.I came to
know of you in my search for a reliable and reputable person To handle a very
confidential transaction,which involves the transfer of a huge sum of money to
your Bank account.There were series of contracts executed by a consortium of
Multinationals in the oil industry in favour of the (NNPC) among which were;
1) The expansion of Pipeline network within Nigeria for crude oil and
downstream products distribution and subsequent evacuation - US$2 Billion.
2) Contract for Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of various Refineries in the
country.
3) The construction of Storage Tanks for Petroleum Product (Depots)-US$94
Million.The original value of of these contracts were deliberately over
invoiced In the sum of One Hundred and forty Million United States Dollars
US$140,000,000.00) which has recently been approved and now ready To be
transferred. However the companies that actually executed the aforementioned
contract have been fully paid and the projects officially commissioned. I am
writing you so that YOU will assist us with a foreign bank account where we can
pay the money into.We have prepare every documentations that will assist you or
your company as contractor that execute a contract with our ministry.The money
will be released to your account within short period of days after we have
filed in all your informations which you will provide.I will like you to
acknowledge the receipt of this e-mail as soon as possible via my contacts
above with the following informations:
(1) YOUR FULL NAME....................................
(2) HOME OR OFFICE ADDRESS................................
(3) YOUR PHONE & FAX NUMBER...................
(4) BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS...................................
I look forward to your quick reply so i can furnish you with more details of
this deal.
BEST REGARDS,
ENGR.REX LAWSON UKEH
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