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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "into your nominated bank account" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Robert" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <robert.collins245@foxmail.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2013 01:38:44 +0430
Subject: Waiting For Your Response
From:Mr. Robert Collins
Dear Friend.
My name is Mr.Robert Collins, A banker by Profession and Currently the Director of Finance, Auditing and Accounting Unit in my Bank,which i will reveal to you later for security reasons.
I got your name and address in my search for a reputable and reliable person to help me claim the sum of USD$15.6 MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS, Deposited in our bank by one of our customer who died with his wife and two children on the 21st day of April 2001 in car clash along Tema express road.
Since his death no one has come up as his next of kin and all our efforts to locate any member of his immediate family was to no avail that is why I decided to see if I can get anybody who has the same surname or last name with him via Internet preferably some one of the same nationality with him which I believe you have all the qualities we need.
Why i am contacting you is to present you to our bank as the next of Kin to the deceased customer. Also because you have the same surname/last name with him. So it will be more acceptable and wiser to present you through paper work to the Bank for claim of the total fund.
I will give you all the necessary requirements that the bank may request from you and follow up the transfer of the fund into your account as an Insider. It will interest you to know that I and my partners has been keeping the account dormant to enable our plans for the funds to come through and this is the time and we are happy to locate you for the perfection of the transfer of the Fund into your nominated Bank Account.
As soon as I get your positive response. I will update you about the mode of disbursement and we will also need to know about investing in your Country as a way of helping your people who are the original owners of this Fund
Looking forward to your urgent response by updating me with your direct Telephone and Fax number for easy communication.
Best Regards
Mr.Robert Collins
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