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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:
- "foreign payment department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "federal republic of benin" (Benin, Cameroon, etc. are no Federal Republics, unlike Nigeria where this type of scam was invented)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Ben Oko" <martinamoda@blumail.org>
Reply-To: benoko@e-mail.ua
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2012 19:21:07 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: ATTN: BENEFICIARY/INHERITANCE
FIRST BANK OF BENIN PLC
truly the first
Corporate Headquarters:
HEAD OFFICE: SAMUEL ASABIA HOUSE,
35 MARINA COTONUO.
TEL: 299-96151833
Our Ref: FBNP/X-XI/2010
ATTN: BENEFICIARY/INHERITANCE
RE: NOTIFICATION OF YOUR OUTSTANDING CONTRACT PAYMENT WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF BENIN.
FOLLOWING A DEPT BUY –BACK AGREEMENT (DBA) REACHED BETWEEN OUR BANK AND THE EDERAL GOVERNMENT OF BENIN UNDER THE 2010/2011 FISCAL YEAR SCHEMES.
YOUR OUTSTANDING CONTRACT PAYMENT WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF BENIN WILL NOW BE PAID THROUGH OUR BANK (FIRST BANK OF NIG PLC) UNDER THE TERMS OF THE DEPT BUY- BACK AGREEMENT (DBA). WE ARE TO PAY YOUR COMPANY IMMEDIATELY WHILE THE GOVERNMENT WILL REFUND OUR BANK THROUGH FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TREASURY BILLS IN FAVOUR OF OUR BANK MATURING IN 2010/2011.
IN YOUR FILE,IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THERE WERE SOME IRREGULARITIES BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT FOLLOWED THE DUE PROCESS OF CLEARANCE AND PAYMENT THAT IS WHY YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVE YOUR FUND EVEN AFTER COMPLETING THE CONTRACT. HOWEVER, THIS BANK HAS BEEN ABLE TO SORT THESE IRREGULARITIES.
SUBSEQUENTLY, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF BENIN ORDERS CONTRACT NUMBER P24K WAS SUED TO THIS BANK DIRECTING US TO REMIT YOUR FUND IMMEDIATELY. PLEASE SEND MEDIATELY YOUR BANK INFORMATION, PRIVATE TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER BECAUSE WE DON’T WANT OUR CORRESPONDING BANK IN LONDON TO MAKE WRONGFUL TRANSFER.
YOU ARE ADVISED TO CALL ME AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE ON MY DIRECT TELEPHONE: +229 96151833.
BEST REGARDS
DR.BEN OKO
DIRECTOR, FOREIGN PAYMENT DEPARTMENT.
FIRST BANK OF BENIN PLC
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