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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: Benson Mansell <bensonmansell44@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Benson Mansell <bensonmansell22@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2015 00:11:15 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Hope To Read From You Soon...
Dear Friend
I am Mr.Benson Mansell, a barrister here in Benin
Republic, I lost a client for over four years now and nobody have shown
up as the family member to my late client.
I know this would come
as a great surprise to you but the reason why I contacted you is
because i want you to stand as beneficiary to my late client. I am also
aware that you might not be directly related to him but am contacting
you to stand as the beneficiary and i will back you up as his personal
attorney.
The bank has been on my neck asking me to present the
next of kin to my late client in the person of Mr Matt Walker. I need
your partnership to secure this floating fund to your Bank account
because if nobody comes to claim this funds it will be re- channeled
into government coffers as unclaimed funds, this is the reason why I
contact you to stand as the beneficiary to my late client's fund as the
attorney to my late client
if you are capable of handling it. Forward me your info
Full Name...
Tel number.....
Age.....
Occupation.....
Country.....
Best Regard
Benson Mansell
Hope To Read From You Soon...
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Anti-fraud resources:
