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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:
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "MR. URBANSKI" <rakefetsh@clalit.org.il>
Reply-To: jhnurbanski09@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2015 15:48:12 -0700
Subject: PRIVATE INVESTIGATION.
Good day,
My name is John Urbanski, senior partner, Technical Advisory Board (TAB) of Allied Irish Bank Group (Senior Security Specialist) Presently we are conducting a standard process investigation on behalf of "AIB Group", the International Banking conglomerate of Allied Irish Bank Plc. This investigation involves a deceased customer and the circumstances surrounding investments made by the deceased customer at AIB. In my bank I came across this dormant account that has the same surname with yours hence I needed to make this contact with you for your partnership and full support
This account has been dormant for the past four (4) years with no possible record of the beneficiary. During my private investigation I discovered that you bear the same surname with the deceased customer and can be linked to the account legitimately. This process is completely legal and risk free, your role is to represent the deceased as beneficiary to the funds as the surviving relative. I shall facilitate the legal deeds to backup every claim plus the total transferable amount shall be shared in halves (50/50) after taxes. Please if you find yourself able to work with me do not hesitate to contact me on this address.
Be informed that I have been mandated by the Claims Department to report all unclaimed funds in my bank for permanent closure of accounts and transfer of existing credit balance into the treasury of the Irish Government as provided by the law for management of assets of deceased beneficiaries who died interstate (living no wills) i.e. without records. If you have any question(s) do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours faithfully,
John Urbanski
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