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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:
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- 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: John Marcinek <coservicedepartment@gmail.com>
Reply-To: johnmarcinek90@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2015 16:32:19 -0700
Subject: Attention: Honorable Beneficiary,
Attention: Honorable Beneficiary,
The International Monetary Funds, IMF has authorized my Office to
settle all the Foreign Debts owed by the Benin Republic Government.The
IMF Foreign Policy and Currency Regulation offered loan of $23 billion
to Benin Republic Government based on the Agreement $2 billion was
mapped out for the Foreign Debts and your name was among those
Beneficiaries to be paid through my Office.
Based on these all the money you have had spent in the course of
getting this money in the past must be included as no money will be
lost. Therefore, you are directed to state categorically the total
amount you had spent before and forward it to my Office now before the
total payment will be made on your behalf.
Your payment this time will be taken place immediately and under 72
Hours the payment of $15m was approved on your behalf and will be
transferred to you immediately. You are requested to reply with your
full information such as:
Your Names
Your Address
Your Phone
Your personal
Contact Phone;+2348022352997
Kindly reply now.
Yours,
John Marcinek
IMF COORDINATOR AFRICA
LAGOS / NIGERIA
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Anti-fraud resources:
