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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:
- "info_icb@gala.net" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "George Nduka" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <info_icb@gala.net>
Date: Mon, 2 May 2011 03:22:09 +0800
Subject: Read
Hello
Pardon me for not having the pleasure of knowing your mindset before making you this offer and it is utterly
confidential and genuine by virtue of its nature.
I write to solicit your assistance in a funds transfer deal involving US$3.5M.This fund has been stashed out of the
excess profit made last 2years by my branch office of the International Commercial Bank of Ghana which I am the manager.
I have already submitted an approved end-of-the-year report for the year 2008 to my head office here in Accra-Ghana and they will never know of this excess.
I have since then, placed this amount on a Non-Investment Account without a beneficiary. Upon your response, I will
configure your name on our database as holder of the Non-Investment Account. I will then guide you on how to
apply to my head office for the Account Closure/bank-to-bank remittance of the funds to your designated bank
account.
If you concur with this proposal, I intend for you to retain 30% of the funds while 70% shall be for me. Kindly forward
your response to me immediately
Email:info_icb@gala.net
Phone:+233546623354
With Regards,
George Nduka
+233546623354
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Anti-fraud resources:
