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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:
- "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.James F. Entwistle" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <cbn.deptreconciliationunit@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2016 19:12:16 +0300
Subject: Waiting to hear from you.
Dear : Sir / Madam.
Re: Urgent Payment Release Notification .
This is to bring to your notice that I Mr.James F. Entwistle U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria just received a complied Unclaimed Payment Automated Teller Machine ATM Card Parcels Bank to Bank Payment Transfer list from the Financial Minister this morning to be signed and authorized among those payment file that will be returned back to the office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the International Police as unclaimed payment file prompt for verification and investigation.
Further more, note that after proper scrutinizing and verification of your forwarded payment file valid US$18Million United States Dollars, I realized that the course of the delay of your payment is due the a missing vital document from your payment file and also you have been communicating with the wrong payment officer for the release of your payment to you.
In view of the above development, I have been contacted as the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria to monitor and verify your payment file here in Nigeria before returning it to the office of the Federal Federal Bureau of Investigation and the International Police as unclaimed payment file prompt for verification and investigation of your file.
More importantly, Bear in mind that I have contacted you due to the fact that your personal information fall under the second payment batch presently lying on my table, The first payment batch of the ed payment list submitted to me has been verified and forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the International Police for final verification and investigation .
You are hereby advised to get back to me as soon as possible before the submission of your payment and personal information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the International Police for verification and investigation .
Feel free to contact me for any assist with the following personal information to ensure your have your payment released to you as soon as possible.
1. Full Name.
2. Private Telephone and Fax Number.
3. Mailing Address.
Waiting to hear from you.
Best Regards.
Mr.James F. Entwistle
U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria
Federal Republic of Nigeria
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