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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: ENGR George Biffers <info@aliexpresstrade.co.uk>
Reply-To: georgebiffers@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:17:46 +0000
Subject: INQUIRY
I AM ENGR. George Biffers 69 YEAR OLD BRITISH CITIZEN, I LIVE IN WEST
YORKSHIRE
UNITED KINGDOM. AM A RETIRED OIL&GAS DEALER WITH VARIOUS COMPANIES.I
AM WRITING
THIS MAIL IN TEARS BUT I THANKS GOD FOR A LIFE WELL SPENT. I HAVE
NEVER MARRIED
OR HAVE KIDS, THE REASON WHY? WHEN I WAS YOUNG THE DOCTOR CONFIRM TO ME I CAN
NOT BEAR KIDS BECAUSE OF THAT NO WOMAN AGREE TO GET MARRIED TO ME. I HAVE BEEN
SUFFERY FROM CANCER FOR OVER 3 YEARS, AFTER VARIOUS TEST CARRIED OUT TODAY BY
THE NHS SPECIALIST DOCTORS I WAS TOLD I HAVE LESS THAN 2 WEEKS TO
LIVE ON THIS
EARTH.I HAVE LOST CONTACT WITH MY EXTEND FAMILY 35 YEARS BECAUSE OF AN
ARGUMENT
OVER FAMILY INHERITANCE. I KNOW YOU WILL BE SURPRISE TO READ FROM ME
APART FROM
BEING SURPRISE YOU WILL FIND IT DIFFICULT TO REPLY BACK. IF YOU ARE WILLING TO
SHOW ME YOUR HONEST AND TRUST I SHOULD BE ABLE TO WORK WITH YOU. I GOT YOUR
CONTACT THROUGH YOUR EMAIL DOMAIN ON GOOGLE SEARCH AS I WAS LOOKING
FOR COMPANY
DIRECTOR OR INDIVIDUAL TO HANDLE THE FORMATION OF TEXTILE COMPANY OR FOOD
MANUFACTURING COMPANY. THE COMPANY WILL BE A MAJOR DISTRIBUTOR TO CHARITY
ORGANIZATION AND ALSO TO CREATE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY FOR THE JOBLESS, THIS
WILL SERVE AS A LEG ENCY I LEFT BEHIND. AM DOING THIS BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE
CHILDREN TO TAKE OVER MY ESTATE AND CASH AFTER HAVE PASSED ON. IF YOU
ACCEPT TO
MANAGE AND RUN THIS COMPANY TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY? REPLY BACK TO ME WITH
YOUR CONTACT DETAILS, I DO NOT NEED YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER BECAUSE I
CAN NOT CALL
YOU, WE ONLY COMMUNICATE THROUGH EMAIL. I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE PERSONAL
INFORMATION WITH YOU ABOUT MY LIFE BEFORE GOD CALL ME. MY LIFE SAVINGS WILL BE
USE AS DONATION FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THIS CHARITY COMPANY.IF YOU WILL BE
ABLE TO MANAGE AND RUN THIS COMPANY TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY I
WILL GIVE YOU
MY SAVING ACCOUNT DETAILS WITH INTERNET BANKING INFORMATION USER NAME AND
PASSWORD THAT WILL ENABLE YOU TRANSFER THE FUNDS FROM MY ACCOUNT TO YOUR
ACCOUNT. AM NOT AFRAID OF DEATH I KNOW AM GOING TO REST IN THE LORD.
I WILL BE WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOONEST
George Biffers.
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Anti-fraud resources:
