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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: "Hon. Justice E. Ayoola" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <honjustice013@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2018 16:29:34 -0700
Subject: PAYMENT NOTIFICATION YOUR ATM CARD
ATTENTION:
PAYMENT NOTIFICATION YOUR ATM CARD ( Ref Code 11772)
RE: LETTER OF COMPENSATION/SETTLEMENT FOR LONG AWAITED OVERDUE PAYMENT
GOOD DAY,
ATTN:
Sequel to the directive from the Federal Ministry of Finance to pay your withheld sum of USD$10.5M, The ATM CARD Number 4225 8411 0727 9877 has been approved for release by the (UBA) Bank For Africa You are hereby advice to get back us with your Valid ID card and shipping details for the release of your Payment by bank to bank cost $350 Usd or card. The courier cost for the shipment of your ATM CARD is USD$290 ONLY. No more fees will be charged after this payment.
I look forward to hear from you.
Yours Faithfully.
Hon. Justice E. Ayoola
Chairman ICPC Nigeria.
(Independent Corrupt Practice
Commission, ICPC)
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Anti-fraud resources:
