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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: "Michael Anderson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mike.anderson@globomail.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 06:06:50 -0600
Subject: RE: CHANGE OF PAYMENT.
Dear Sir,
Be informed that we have received an application in which you have instructed Mr. Dias Carlos of Panama to henceforth stand in for you as the beneficiary of your funds. The account details below was sent to us for the fund transfer. The official process to effect this change has not been fully complied with and coupled with other irregularities which caused the long delays in your payment; these corrections must be addressed urgently to avoid the cancellation of your payment.
Banco Nacional De Panama
ABA # 104 000 016
Swift Code BAOPAN44XXX
Account Name : Dias Carlos.
Account # 16424641
You are required to confirm the legitimacy of the above claim and kindly give us the reason why you decided to effect the above change of account. If you are not aware of this claim, please confirm to us immediately.
Note: We shall not be held accountable for any fund diversion issues due to your delayed response to this inquiry, your urgent response to this matter will be appreciated.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Anderson.
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Anti-fraud resources:
