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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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <edutrustfund@outlook.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 07:10:37 +0400
Subject: FOR YOUR ATTENTION!!
FOR YOUR ATTENTION,
ON BEHALF OF THE UNITED STATES EDUCATIONAL TRUST FUND, I MR. ROBERT BRANDENBURG WISH TO FORMALLY CONGRATULATE YOU AS WE APPROVE A GRANT OF €350,000.00 AS AN EDUCATIONAL GRANT TO ASSIST IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR SCHOOL,BUSINESS/PROJECT.
DO FIND THE ATTACHED COPIES OF THE BANK OF AMERICA DRAFT AND APPROVE LETTER, AFTER THE DOCUMENTATION YOUR DRAFT WILL BE SENT TO YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THE FOLLOWING DETAILS WILL BE NEEDED FOR OUR RECORD:
1. COMPLETE NAME OF YOUR BUSINESS/PROJECT AND ITS WEBSITE IF ANY
2.WHAT ARE THE DEVELOPMENTAL PURPOSE YOU WILL USE THIS GRANT FOR WHEN YOU RECEIVE IT.
3. WHICH OTHER AREAS DO YOU NEED ASSISTANCE.
4. COMPLETE ADDRESS BECAUSE OUR INSPECTORS WILL BE VISITING YOUR PROJECT/BUSINESS PERIODICALLY AFTER THE FUNDS HAS BEEN RELEASED TO YOU FOR MONITORING AND EVALUATION TO BE SURE THE FUND IS USED FOR ITS PURPOSE.
ONCE THE ABOVE DETAILS ARE RECEIVED WE WILL THEN INSTRUCT YOU ON HOW TO RECEIVE YOUR DRAFT WHICH COPY IS SENT AS AN EMAIL ATTACHMENT IN THIS EMAIL.
CONGRATULATIONS ONCE MORE.
MR. ROBERT BRONEMBURG.
UNITED STATED EDUCATIONAL TRUST FUND(U.S.A.E.T.F)
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Anti-fraud resources:
