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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: "Todd R. Golden" <free50@7t.dk>
Reply-To: <covenantbank.maryland@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2014 07:26:19 -0800
Subject: Please Re-confirm Urgent
Covenant Bank
8160 Washington Blvd Apt 345
Jessup, MD 20794-9579 USA
Phone: +1 (410) 803 6896
Fax: +1 (410) 635 1835
Dear: Beneficiary,
The total sum of US$7.3 million in your name was brought to our bank from centre/Regulatory Bank of Ghana as unclaimed funds. These money has been
lying dormant in this bank.
Note; for this bank to be sure we are dealing with the rightful beneficiary of this funds; kindly send us your full details information with copy of your valid passport or Drivers License.
We shall advice you upon confirmation of the above information.
Thank you.
Todd R. Golden,
Executive Vice President
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Anti-fraud resources:
