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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:
- "central bank of nigeria" (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: Jerry Mesh <tomasmarek160@gmail.com>
Reply-To: jerrymesh153@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2023 16:10:22 -0700
Subject: Dear Beneficiary
Good Day,
This is to inform you that the President-Elect of federal republic of
Nigeria Senator Bola Tinubu has directed that all outstanding payments owed
to foreign contractors and beneficiaries should be paid with immediate
effect. We are very happy to inform you that your name is among the people
that will be receiving an approved part payment of $8.7Million without any
delay. You are hereby informed to reconfirm your bank account
details/direct telephone number and your current address. The new Nigerian
President-Elect wants all outstanding payments to be paid before May 28th
so that he will be taking over as the new President of the federal republic
of Nigeria. By this information, you are advised to provide the above
details to enable us proceed with the payment of your part payment of
$8.7Million immediately.
Yours Sincerely.
Jerry Mesh
Head of operations
Central bank of Nigeria.
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Anti-fraud resources:
