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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: Agent Charlene B.Thornton <harleneb.thornton101@fvfcg.onmicrosoft.com>
Reply-To: <charleneb.thornton@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2017 16:36:47 +0100
Subject: FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION VISIT IN NIGERIA
ANTI-TERRORIST MONETARY,CYBER RESPONSE AND CRIMES DIVISION FBI HEADQUARTERS=
WASHINGTON DC FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS J.EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING935 =
PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535-0001 Our Ref: CBN /0N8/CONTR=
ACT NO.856. To. Beneficiary: This is Agent Charlene B.Thornton and we are h=
ere in Nigeria as an FBI/UNITED NATION delegate that have been delegated to=
investigate these fraudsters who are in the business of swindling Foreigne=
rs that came for transaction in Nigeria . Please be informed that during ou=
r investigation,we found out that there is a total sum amount of money $12.=
5million that has been assigned in your name as the beneficiary and these f=
raudsters are busy swindling you without any hope of receiving your fund. T=
hese are the works of the fraud stars who needed to extort money from you i=
n the name of this transfer.We have to inform you that we have made some ar=
rested in respect of this delayed over due fund. I have a very limited time=
to stay in Nigeria here so I advise you urgently respond to this message .=
These criminals will be caught unaware and we don't want them to know this=
new development to avoid jeopardizing our investigation,you need to concea=
l anything that has to do with this exercise to enable us get all the neces=
sary information we required. I shall be expecting your swift response as s=
oon as you receive this email. Best Regard, Agent Charlene B.Thornton FEDER=
AL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION VISIT IN NIGERIA
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Anti-fraud resources:
