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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:
- "million us dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "(ecowas)" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Central Bank of Nigeria <pogah@cenlbank.org>
Reply-To: <pogah.cbn@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 01:44:30 -0400
Subject: RELEASE OF YOUR PAYMENT
FROM THE OFFICE THE GOVERNOR, CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA
(MR. GODWIN IFEANYICHUKWU EMIEFELE)
BY: PATRICK OGAH; PAYMENT VERIFICATION COMMITTEE
Our Ref: CBN/PVC/IR-CB/07/14
Dear Sir / Madam,
Following numerous complaints and petitions received from individuals and corporate bodies about the delay to receive their various outstanding payments pending at various government ministries and agencies till date, the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) in conjunction with the Nigerian government have set up a special committee to verify and recommend payments on these claims. This committee shall be overseen by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
You are therefore advised to provide the following information to enable the committee verify your claim and recommend payment on your behalf:
Surname: ___________________________________________________
Other names: ________________________________________________
Occupation: _________________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________________
Nationality:__________________________________________________
Telephone number: ___________________________________________
The committee will verify your claim and approve your payment. Subsequently, the approved sum will be paid to you through one of the accredited banks designated for this purpose. Please note that the payment is capped at of 5 Million US Dollars. This means that every beneficiary who is being owed more than the above amount will receive only the maximum amount of 5 Million US Dollars for each verified and approved claim.
Also note that any further information you can provide on your payment will speed up the verification process and release of your money. The above information should be sent to the Head of the Verification Committee; Mr. Patrick Ogah.
Yours truly,
Patrick Ogah
Committee Chairman.
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