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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:
- "from the desk of" (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: "BANK OF AMERICA" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <richardwilliams72@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2011 20:56:03 -0000
Subject: IMPORTANT NOTE FROM BANK OF AMERICA/LAST WARNING
From the Desk of Dr. Richard Williams
Local Transfer Department Bank of America Florida Branch U.S.A.
My name is Dr. Richard Williams due to our update of record of transfer sent locally and internationally today i found out that a payment was sent from the United state Embassy in England in regard to your contract/Inheritance and lottery funds with the Central Bank of England to our branch and the payment was paid in your name and information as the owner.
The total sum of $26 Million usd is on our custody and you need to act fast to claim the fund before it will be returned back and marked as unclaimed payment.
The Link below contain access to the Transaction Status number and analysis click the link below enter your email id and password for easy viewing.
http://www.jugarambfoc.com/1/transaction.status/index.htm
Await your reply once this is done i will update you what to do next on how your $26 Million will be send to you.
Dr. Richard Williams
Local Transfer Department Bank of America
Florida Branch U.S.A.
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Anti-fraud resources:
