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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "my names are " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "economic and financial crimes commission" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "farida mzamber waziri" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "farida waziri" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- ecofinancialcrime@i12.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs Farida Waziri" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ecofinancialcrime@i12.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Feb 2010 09:56:59 -0000
Subject: Delayed Transfer Fund: YOU HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH THE WRONG OFFICES
Hello,
My Names are Mrs. Farida Waziri the new Economic and Financial Crimes Commission chairperson in Nigeria and i understand you are expecting your delayed fund to be wired to you but some top government officials and bank partners will not tell you the truth about the whereabouts of your fund and all they are doing is to tell you to pay outrageous fees which you refused to come up with but I will not do that based on my conscience and that is why I have contacted you to let you know because i know you have gone far in trying to get this fund and must have paid some amounts of monies to persons you are not supposed to give out a dime to.
I will be ready to help you get your fund but you have to help me keep it a secret to enable me help in delivering your fund as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission principal officer.You better believe me or forget contacting me again but i know that they will never tell you the truth. Get back to me and i will tell you the possible way to get your fund delivered to you without the consent of anyone because i know God will reward me after all.
I can also be reached via my private email below.
ecofinancialcrime@i12.com
I expect your prompt response.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs Farida Mzamber Waziri.
Chairperson,
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission {EFCC}
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Anti-fraud resources:
