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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: "FEDERAL RESERVE BANK USA" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fed111@usa.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 11:00:50 -0700
Subject: MAKING YOUR TRANSFER TODAY
This is to inform you that we have concluded plans to finally transfer your fund to you but we cannot make this transfer without hearing from you and confirming that you are ready to accept the fund.We are also aware of the issues you had with your attorney which has been resolved at the moment and we would advise you get back to this office immediately so that we can move ahead for the transfer.You are not expected to make anymore payment whatsoever on this transfer for any reason because as we speak the fund is ready to be transferred to any of your nominated Bank account or delivered to your doorstep as you wished.
We therefore urge you to open the attached file named TRANSFER FILE and then click RUN to view which you would find inside the TRANSFER FILE attached your transfer information and the exact day your fund will be hitting your account.We have your account details already and your long awaited fund will hit your account within 24 hours of you opening the said payment slip attached.The file is encrypted so you need not worry.
I want you to proceed now and open the attached TRANSFER FILE then click on RUN to view your banking details and the amount to be transferred to your bank account.Attached is your TRANSFER FILE.
Congratulations
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Anti-fraud resources:
