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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:
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "worldsettlementcenter@outlook.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: user@payment.com
Reply-To: worldsettlementcenter@outlook.com
Date: 29 Apr 2022 10:34:52 +0000
Subject: Re: FINALLY YOUR PAYMET IS NOW READY.
Reply To..Mr. Gabby Lee
Email: worldsettlementcenter@outlook.com
WORLD BANK COMPENSATION UNIT
OUR REF: WB/STF01861/HQ
RELEASE CODE NO. 074888
AMOUNT: $10.5m USD
Attention: Sir/Ma,
Please be informed that your long awaited compensation funds
payment regarding LOTTERY WINNING, COVID-19 RELIEF FUNDS AND
UNPAID CONTRACTORS that have not been paid for many years into
decades have now been approved through our compensation program.
The compensation amount is 10.5m USD (Ten Million,Five Hundred
Thousand US D0llars only). But today a middle-aged lady by the
name Judy Alexander forwarded her banking information claiming to
represent you that you are now late/dead. This is to confirm from
your email reply if you are truly dead or alive?? And kindly
reconfirm your information once again for further procedure.
1. Name..................................
2. Age.....................................
3. Country...............................
4. Mobile Number........................
5. Alternative/Other Email.......................
Please take note that you must pay $250 for official for proper
clearance and documentation before we can proceed. If you choose
otherwise not to pay do not reply to this email notification. We
await your urgent response within the next 24 hours in order to
proceed.
Yours faithfully,
Gabby Lee
The International Payment
and Settlement Center.
The World Bank Office H-Unit
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Anti-fraud resources:
