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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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Richard W. Fisher" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <rfishes@qq.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2016 00.40.49 +0100
Subject: Your Consent Is Needed
Dear Friend,
My name is Mr. Richard Fisher from Federal Reserve Texas District. I contacted you and i have looked up on your profile that you have the same last name with our late customer. I will like us to handle a transaction of $56 Million Dollar that have been abandoned for years by our late customer. Since i work in Federal Reserve, I want us to legally move the money out from the sundry account as the beneficiary as an inheritance claim since you have the same last name with our late customer. Please do not disclose this to any one, as you must understand that my job and reputation is on the line. Most of the top bank officers make their money through this kind of deals. This is the second time i am sending you this email and you're yet to respond. Please do respond.
We will share the money 50/50% if the fund have be released to you. I will send you my cell phone number and identity card. Please i want to trust you on this transaction and i hope you are capable of handling this transaction. This is just the first transaction. If i can trust you on this, we will do more business deals. I do not want to talk about this on the phone, i will like for us to send each other sms on my personal cell phone number for more detail as for further instruction how to proceed on this.
Awaiting your prompt response.
Richard W. Fisher
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Anti-fraud resources:
