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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "transfer into your account" (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)
- "million us 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)
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- mr.paulwillies102@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Paul Williams" <ggood4337@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Mr.paulwillies102@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2020 11:31:58 -0700
Subject: Greetings,
*Greetings,I'm Mr. Paul Williams. I married with three kids. I am
remittance director toone of African largest bank here in Dakar-Senegal.
Because of security reasons i will not disclose any information about the
bank yet until i find that you are capable to handle the transaction. One
Mr. Karl Schwarz a German Oil consultant/contractor with the Angola Solid
Minerals Corporation have a deposit with our bank ($7.5 Million US Dollars)
in my branch again as his credit officer i sent a routine notification to
his forwarding address but got no reply, after a year we sent a reminder
and finally i discovered from his contract employers that Mr. Karl Schwarz
is died.Further investigations and all attempts to trace his next of kin
was fruitless.I made further investigation and discovered that Mr. Karl did
not declare any next of kin or relations in all his official documents,
including his bank depo sit file in our bank.This sum of ($7.5 Million US
Dollars) is still sitting in my bank and no one will ever come forward to
claim it. According to the banking ethics codes and laws at the expiration
of (Five years) the funds will be revert to the Government account if
nobody applies to claim the fund.Now i want you to stand in as the next of
kin to Mr. Karl Schwarz. The fund will be transfer into your account and we
will share the fund 50% for me 40% for you 10% for expenses Incurred in the
course of the transaction. There is no risk for the transaction, with my
position as the foreign remittance director i will direct you in any thing
the bank needed for the transfer. Be rest assured that this transaction
would be most profitable for both of us because i shall require your
assistance to invest my share in your country. Please i would like you to
keep this proposal as a top secret and confidential get back to me if you
are interested Mr.paulwillies102@gmail.com
<Mr.paulwillies102@gmail.com> for more details also please delete this
message from your box if you are not interested. Waiting for your urgent
reply.Best Regards,Mr. Paul Williams.*
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