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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "may come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- "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)
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.Tibu Zogod" <rev.peteranderson@gmail.com>
Reply-To: zogodtibu@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2022 02:14:09 -0800
Subject: Your Assistance Is Needed Please.
Good Day My Dear Friend,
How are you today? I am Mr.Tibu Zogod, an official Driver to formal
Director General Dr. Sule MADIZI with BANK OF AFRICA for years and by
the end of this year I shall be going for my retirement. I have a
mature business to share with you which I know that it would change
our life and families as well if you are ready to cooperate without
having it in mind to betray me. In my work for years as a Driver I
know about a huge amount of money (usd$20.5M) Twenty Million Five
Hundred Thousand United State of America Dollars that belong to Mr.
Godwin SAGA, a politician in my country in the time of our former
president.
Mr. Godwin SAGA used to steal government money and transfer it out of
the country to his correspondent Mr. GORGE DONE bank account in NEW
YORK through the help of our former Director General Dr. Sule MADIZI,
unexpected Mr. Godwin SAGA and our formal Director General Dr. Sule
MADIZI secret were exposed to the government and two of them were
arrested and sent to prison for 15 years without completing the
present transaction of (usd$20.5M) Twenty Million Five Hundred
Thousand United State of America Dollars that they have at hand. In
the prison our former General Director Dr. Sule MADIZI died after five
years in prison and Mr. Godwin SAGA fell sick also that led to his
death.
As a close person to our former Director General Dr. Sule MADIZI he
used to keep some files with me but I didn't know anything about the
file until this incident happened before I got to know what Mr. Godwin
SAGA and our formal Director General Dr. Sule MADIZI are doing. I
secretly made an investigation about the (usd$20.5M) Twenty Million
Five Hundred Thousand through the file and I got to know that the fund
is still in the bank but I cannot claim it because the fund has been
programmed for international transfer and not local.
I have work for years without any good achievement and this is an
opportunity for me but i cannot claim this fund alone, so i want you
and i to work together and get this money through the direction i we
give you and the fund would be transfer into your bank account without
any problem, 50% for you and 40% for me and 10% for all the expenses
you would make during the processing of the transaction into your bank
account.
If you agree and promise to keep this deal as top secret then forward
your personal information to me as listed below immediately you
receive this message so that I can change your information to Mr.
GORGE DONE and then introduce you to our bank for the claiming of the
fund.
Your Full name
Your Country
Your Home Address
Your Age
Your Sex
Your Occupation
Your Direct Private Telephone number
With all due respect my message may come to you as a surprise but
don’t worry it is for good because it is my honest desire to share the
business with you only. Get back to me with your details as listed
above if you are truly interested.
Best Regards.
Mr.Tibu Zogod.
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