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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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "my names are " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- 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.
- brown_balogun@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Richard Kumbo <richkumbo1@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 15:11:54 +0000
Subject: Waiting For Your Feedback
Hello My names are Mr. Brown Balogun. I am 52years old married with two
lovely kids. I have packaged a financial transaction that will benefit both
of us, as an officer in my Bank; it is my duty to send in a financial
report to my Head Office in the end of each business year.
On the course of last two years 2013 business report, I discovered that my
branch in which I am rank officer made Three Million two hundred and twenty
Thousand United State Dollars ($3,220.000.00) which my Head Office are not
aware of and will never be aware of it. I have placed this fund on SUSPENSE
ACCOUNT with no beneficiary.
As an officer of this bank i cannot be directly connected to this money,
this informed my contacting you. Indeed I will appreciate if you can
receive this money in your bank account and get 30% of the total funds.
You can get back to me through my via private E:mail (
brown_balogun@yahoo.com )
Regards
Brown Balogun
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Anti-fraud resources:
