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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:
- "dear beloved," (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "i got your email address from " (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Agnessa Artikov" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <agnessa.artikov@e-mail.ua>
Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:40:46 -0800
Subject: Hello My Beloved.
Dear Beloved,
Let me first of all inform you, I got your email address from a mail Directory and decided to mail you for a permission to go ahead. I am Mrs. Agnessa Artikov married to Dr. Bruce Artikov from Kiev who worked with a construction company in Asia for twenty Years before he died in the tsunami disaster. we were married but without Any children, Since his death I decided not to remarry and presently I am 69 Years old. When my late husband was Alive he deposited the sum of $4.5M. (Four Million Five Hundred Thousand U.S. Dollars) with his bank.
Presently this money is still with the bank and the management just wrote me as the beneficiary to come forward to receive the money or rather Issue a letter of authorization to somebody to receive it on my behalf if I cannot come over. I am presently undergoing treatment for Cancer of the lungs, I have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors have told me that I have only few weeks to live. I want a person that is trustworthy that will utilize this money to fund orphanages, widows and the less privileged around the world but in our name Mr. & Mrs. Artikov foundation.
As soon as I receive your reply with the requested information, I will direct the attorney to secure the authorization letter with your information to allow the bank to accord all respect to you as the new beneficiary. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated here in and Keep this contact confidential till such a time this funds get to your Custody. This is to ensure that nothing jeopardizes my last wish on Earth.
Name:
Address:
Phone:
E-mail:
Age:
Occupation:
I await your urgent reply.
With Love
Mrs. Agnessa Artikov
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Anti-fraud resources:
