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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:
- "certified bank draft" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "WORLD BANK PAYMENT OFFICE" <worldbankorg17@att.net>
Reply-To: <g20payment@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:24:34 +0100
Subject: Your G20 payment instruction
World Bank African Region Center
69 Dr. Isert Street, Accra Ghana
Accra Ghana
After a joint meeting of the G20 countries and Implementation Panel on Contract/ inheritance fund under Category, which was addressed and headed by the World Bank president. It became imperative to contact you on the subject matter. This meeting was initiated as part of the recent formation to tackle the problem of economic melt down and globalisation.
During the meeting, so many negative reports were tabled on behalf of numerous contractors and foreign personnels world over on how unfairly they have been treated and extorted by some corrupt government officials of the country and source of the fund who were vested with the authority to pay them their entitlements. The most annoying and irritating aspect of it all is that they could not effect payment to these foreign beneficiaries after subjecting them to so much stress and trauma. So the WORLD BANK AFRICAN Region Ghana has being instructed to carry out the payment to you through our accredited bank.(International Bank of Ghana).
So for you to receive your fund which is worth $5M United States Dollars all you need to do is to choose an option amongst the below options on how you will prefer to get your funds.
(1)Online Wire Transfer (OWT)
Full Name:
Full Address:
Phone Number:
Occupation:
Sex:
Age:
Country:
Bank Name:
Account Number:
Swift Code:
Routing Number:
(2) Atm Card
Full Name:
Full Address:
Phone Number:
Occupation:
Sex:
Age:
Country:
(3) Certified Bank Draft
Full Name:
Full Address:
Phone Number:
Occupation:
Sex:
Age:
Country:
Kindly choose the method you will like to receive your funds with and
forward the information to the bank with the below contact information.
Name:Mr. Laurence Triggs Offei
Tel/Fax:+233244458177
World Bank African Region Director
Diwan Ishac
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Anti-fraud resources: