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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)
- "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Jerry Micheal <o_a11191@ymail.com>
Reply-To: o_a1191@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 02:38:55 +0400
Subject: Hi
Dear friend
My name is Mr.Henry Oputa the principal treasury officer with one of the
prime banks in Cote d'Ivoire . I would need your consent to present you as
the next of
kin to our late customer who died of heart attack in 2009. He was a
wealthy business man who deposited a huge amount in our Bank. He died
without any registered next of kin as he was long divorced and had no
child, I discovered your email through comprehensive web email search on
directory so I decided to contact you.
I was his account officer and have in my possession all the documents
required to present you as his beneficiary next of kin. I contacted
you because you have same name identity with our late client and can
perfectly fit in as next of kin, We can work together to claim this
fund. Please listen, this is real and goes on in Banks all over the world
without people knowing. Let us utilize this opportunity because
it does not come always. A lot of customers open private accounts with
different Banks without the knowledge of their families and when they
die, such money will be lost to the Bank unless someone comes to claim
it. This is how a lot of Bank Directors make so much money
silently.
On your confirmation of this message and indicating your interest, I will
furnish you with more details. Please endeavor to provide me with
the following so that we can discuss in details
1)mobile phone numbers
2)full name
3)contact address and occupation
I urgently hope to get your response as soon as possible.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr.Henry Oputa.
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Anti-fraud resources:
