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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:
Fraud email example:
From: Philip Duncan <philipduncan13@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 09:46:41 +0100
Subject: Attention:
REF: The Estate of Late Mr. Alfred C.
Attention:
I am Mr. Philip Duncan. Practicing in Accra in Republic of Ghana. I am
the family lawyer to deceased Mr. Alfred C. who was from your country.
My late client died suddenly with his entire family on 30th December
2006 while they were coming back from a concert in a ghastly road
accident and left no NEXT OF KIN who can claim his estate worth US$9.5
million deposited in a bank here. Until his death, my late client
was a supplier of chemicals to the Ghana National Petroleum
Corporation and also an Oil contractor.
Hence, I contacted you to claim the estate of my late client valued at
US$9.5 million since you share the same last name.I intend to present
you to the bank as the next of kin to my late client since you bear
the same last name with my deceased client. The bank will accept and
approve any personthat I present formally to them as the Next of kin
to my late c lient since I am the family attorney to the deceased.
I will discuss details on how to proceed and what will be
your benefits when I receive your positive reply.
Sincerely,
Philip Duncan
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Anti-fraud resources:
