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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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Jonah Paul <jonahpaulbankmanager1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: jonahpaul1979@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2023 09:21:39 +0000
Subject: I NEED YOUR URGENT REPLY.
My Dear Friend,
I am Mr.Jonah Paul,from Burkina Faso and i am the new bank telex
manager of our bank here in Africa.
I have the opportunity to transfer the sum of US$ 19.2 Million to your
bank account which i personally placed on an Escrow account without a
name.
I must tell you that after revision of files both old and new as the
new bank telex manager ,i discovered that if these funds remains here
without transferring it offshore,it will be lawfully recovered and
moved to the Government of Burkina Faso treasury as an abandoned
funds without any name.
I want to let you know that a Burkinabe cannot stand as the
beneficiary of these Dollars since we are not allowed to operate on
foreign currency. I do not intend to work and stay in Africa till the
rest of my life.
I will furnish you with more details of this profitable business and
how it can be perfectly and legally executed without any hitch since i
am now in control and funds under my custody.
I am waiting to hear from you urgently to proceed.
Yours sincerely,
Mr.Jonah Paul.
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Anti-fraud resources:
