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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: Mie Handayani <mraleksandrkovalenko553@gmail.com>
Reply-To: bank.garanti@bk.ru
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2023 08:52:50 +0100
Subject: GREAT MESSAGE.
Dear Friend,
I am Mie Handayani and I work with Bank Central Asia Jakarta Indonesia. I
work as auditor general.
I am contacting you in regards to funds that were deposited by my client Dr
Demile Kolarov from Ukraine. Recently it was confirmed that Dr Demile
Kolarov died along with his only son and wife during the last Russian
shelling which resulted in their untimely demise and may their soul rest in
peace. While alive he said there are two of his siblings he would like to
add as his next of kin but he was not able to make it due to his untimely
death.
As it is now the government here is planning to remit this fund to the
government account as an unclaimed fund. Should this happen this funds will
definitely end up in the private accounts and they will use it to enrich
themselves and their families. I don't want this to happen and this was the
reason I decided to contact you
I will furnish you with further exclusive and of course, confidential
details once I receive your affirmation response.
Mie Handayani
Auditor General.
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Anti-fraud resources:
