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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found 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: william robert <robertwilliam335@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2015 05:04:17 -0500
Subject: read and get back
Dear Friend.
I am Mr. william robert, I work in a Bank as an account officer to
late Mr. Roman Blum who happened to has a deposit
sum of $5.5 Million USD with our Bank Before he died of illness last
year. I have try to contact any of his relative
without a success, this is the reason why i send this mail to you. I
want you to stand as his relative so that our Bank
can release this Fund to you. With my help as his account officer
everything will be okay if only you can follow my
instructions. He has no heirs to all his Fund and Estates.
All I need from you now is your
Your full name, Contact address, Occupation and Cell Phone.
This is what i need from you to present to our Bank for the claim as
the beneficiary of the Fund. As soon as our Bank
release the Fund to you, we will invest the Fund in re-estate or any
other business you may advise.
Sincerely
Mr. william robert
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Anti-fraud resources:
