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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:
- "you are required to pay " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- 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.
- thenigeriapoliceforce1@hispavista.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Inspector General Of The Nigeria Police Force (NPF)" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <thenigeriapoliceforce1@hispavista.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 03:29:40 +0100
Subject: Attn: Beneficiary, From Nigeria Police Force(NPF)!!!
Attn: Beneficiary
Sir/Madam,
My Name is Sir Hafiz Abubakar Ringim of the Nigeria Police Force(NPF).
I understand you are expecting your delayed fund to be wired to your bank account.
but some top government officials and bank partners will not tell you the truth and 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.
I will not do that based on my conscience and that is why I have contacted you to let you know the truth because i know you have gone far in trying to get this fund and must have paid some amounts of monies to people you are not supposed to give out a dime to.
All you are required to pay for is for the bank transfer charges of your fund into your bank account in your country.
I will be ready to help you get your fund but you have to help me keep it as a secret to enable me help in deliver your fund as the Nigeria Police Force principal officer.
You better believe me or forget contacting me again but i know that they will never tell you the truth because they are all thieving criminals.
Get back to me and i will tell you the possible way to get your fund delivered to you without the consent of anyone i know God will reward me after all.
I expect your prompt response through my private email:
thenigeriapoliceforce1@hispavista.com
Regards.
Sir Hafiz Abubakar Ringim
Inspector General Of The Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
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This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.
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Anti-fraud resources:
