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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:
- "million dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Philip N. Jefferson" <company.landrun@gmail.com>
Reply-To: financial.action@hotmail.com
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2023 16:29:59 +0100
Subject: RECEIPT OF FUNDS
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Attn: The Beneficiary
We are the Apex Bank US which is Central Bank of USA. We are
contacting you based on the abandoned transaction with one of our
commercial banks here in US which was dictated by our
database.Moreover, we have received series of complains and petitions
by other beneficiaries from different part of the world whose payments
have not been released due to some irregularities on the part of the
banks handling the payments or inability of the beneficiaries to meet
up their obligations.
Therefore, we will decided to pay the sum of Five million US dollar
each as compensation to all outstanding beneficiaries whose payments
have overdue for release which you are one of them.. We have ordered
our approved attorney in California to process and validate all your
payment release documents for immediate release of the Five million
dollars via two payment methods:
(a) ATM card payment which will be delivered to your address without
any further delay So that you will start withdrawing your fund via ATM
card.
(b) Instant/direct wire transfer whereby the fund will be wired
directly to your bank account without going through any other bank or
process. Any of the two payment
methods will be concluded within 3 working days. These are the only
two approved and easiest payment methods to receive your the
compensation fund.
Your ONLY financial obligation: You will be required to send the
processing/validation fee of Two Hundred and Fifty US dollars only to
the approved attorney to validate all the release documents for
immediate release of your compensation fund to you via ATM card or
direct wire transfer.
Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.
Warm regards.
Mr. Philip N. Jefferson
Governor
Federal Reserve Bank, Washington DC.
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Anti-fraud resources:
