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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:
- "u.k " (this email uses bad English)
- "robert mugabe" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Patricia Siverton <info@brendalay.com>
Reply-To: patriciasiverton@outlook.com
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2023 08:22:40 -0600
Subject: Response
--
Dear Sir
I am , Patricia Siverton from Harare,Zimbabwe. I am the wife of late
Peeter Siverton a well known farmer and diamond merchant who was beaten
to death in 2003 by allies of late President Mugabe after the seizure of
all his life times investment in Zimbabwe by the then Government of late
Robert Mugabe, this includes all farms, houses and bank accounts. We
lost almost all we had to then Government of Late Robert Mogabe. But I
Thank God my husband was able to make a deposit of quite a significant
amount money with a bank in U.K before his death. through a diplomatic
channel and this is my reason of contacting you. Because the bank
insisted that my late husband deposited the fund with them with the
instruction to have it transferred to his partner in your Country. I
have made every effort to locate this partner for years after the death
of my husband but could not find him and the bank have insisted that
this partner must contact them with his bank details before the fund
will be released for transfer. In this regard, I had a one on one
meeting with the bank manager who advised me to introduce someone from
your Country to stand as my late husband's partner to enable him approve
the transfer after submitting the necessary documents that will be
required.
This is why I sincerely need of your assistance to help me and my
children transfer this money to your country for onward investment in
there in your country for my children upbringing as we are finding a way
to leave this country to settle down there and continue our lives. I
know you may be wondering how I got your address, I found it in one of
my husband's business
file which convinced me that could be one of our numerous customers and
I have
every trust that you will not sit on the when transferred to your
Country. I am ready to compensate you with a good percentage of this
amount after the transfer and you will also be in charge of every the
investment you will make on behalf.
Kindly do every thing possible to reply this mail so as to enable me
give you more details and contact information of the bank to communicate
with them and verify this transaction as risk free before we sign the
agreement and
move forward.
Thanks and God Bless as I urgently await your reply and you can read
more our about the death of my husband here:
https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2004-01-21-30-zimbabwe-66863622/376454.html
Patricia Siverton
20 Auckland Road Workington
Harare
Zimbabwe
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