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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: "International Monetary Fund (IMF)" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <andrewtweeedie@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2016 02:50:50 +0100
Subject: PLEASE REPORT ME TO THE FBI IF I REQUEST FOR A PENNY FROM YOU
- N244 Application for Order / Application Notice : 37969-13832-zacc-g414g1-2a12
- Multi-Purpose Form : 37969-13832-M24abP2-g414g1-2a12
- N251 Notice of funding of case or claim : 37969-13832-zad0-g414g1-2a12
- N9 Acknowledgment of Service : 37969-13832-zq-g414g1-4a12
- N215 Certificate of Service : 37969-13832-za0d-g414g1-4a12
- Notice of acting : 37969-13832-zabcOfAcabng-g414g1-4a12
Dear Recipient
You have been listed to receive $3.8m (Three million eight hundred thousand dollars). After a proper scrutiny of your file,it is discovered that you are yet to submit the ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) and ICI ( Identification claimant Invoice) for immediate funds receipt.Due to duration of your transaction,I wish to assist you to complete this transaction without a dime coming out of your pocket but all I need is your full cooperation and adhere to simple instructions to avoid any complications
Yours Sincerely
Andrew Tweeedie
Finance Department Director
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
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Anti-fraud resources:
