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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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found 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: "MR. DONALD BERNHARD" <akinyoola2018@gmail.com>
Reply-To: moneygramo231@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2023 01:17:23 -0700
Subject: URGENT REPLY
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ATTENTION IS NEEDED PLEASE!
Greetings from the Wells Fargo Bank.
I have a vital information which needs to be attended immediately, Did
you authorized anyone to pick up your inheritance fund from our branch
in Cleveland Caldwell Idaho? A man called Mr Osondu Victor Igwilo came
to our office yesterday inrespect of your 20m which has been credited
with us for the past 2 months now by the Federal Government to be
transferred into your nominate bank account. He said that you
authorized him to pick up the fund.
This fund has been in our custody for the past two months now and we
have been waiting for you to contact us but we didn't know what is
hindering you from reaching us since. So we decided to write to you to
make sure that you are fine and aware of your inheritance funds of 20
Million USD in our branch office in Caldwell Idaho.
We want you to get back to us with the following details:
Full Name:__________
Home address:_____
Age:________________
Occupation:_________
Phone number:______
Nearest airport:______
I await to hear from you ASAP.
get back to me as soon as possible
This above listed details are needed as fast as possible if you didn't
authorize anyone to pick up your fund from our branch in Idaho
best regards,
Mr. James C. Wilson.
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Anti-fraud resources:
