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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: SUNTRUST BANK USA <suntrustbank1@accountant.com>
Reply-To: suntrustbank@accountant.com
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2015 22:31:11 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS YOUR PAYSLIP IS READY TODAY
THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT THIS OFFICE HAS BEEN MANDATED BY THE
GOVERNMENT TO REFUND EVERY DIME STOLEN FROM YOU BY AFRICANS OR LOST TO
SCAMS.THIS HAS BEEN LOOKED INTO FOR YEARS AND WE HAVE FOUND OUT THAT
YOU HAVE BEEN SWINDLED SEVERAL TIMES. WE HAVE FINALLY PROCURED ALL
LEGAL DOCUMENTS IN RELEASING YOUR FUND AND AS WE SPEAK YOUR FUND IS IN
ONE OF THE LEADING BANKS IN THE COUNTRY READY TO BE DELIVERED TO YOU
OR TRANSFERRED TO ANY OF YOUR NOMINATED BANK ACCOUNT.
NOW YOU ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO OPEN THE ATTACHED FILE NAMED Payslip
AND THEN GO THROUGH THE INFORMATION ON THE ATTACHED FILE AND CONFIRM
TO THIS OFFICE THAT THOSE ARE YOUR INFORMATION AND YOUR HOME
ADDRESS.WITHOUT OPENING THE SAID FILE NAME PAY SLIP011092015 WE CANNOT
CONFIRM YOU ARE THE BENEFICIARY OF THE REFUND.
WE THEREFORE URGE YOU TO OPEN THE SAID FILE AND CLICK RUN TO VIEW THEN
RESPOND BACK TO THIS OFFICE CONFIRMING THE INFORMATION ON THE ATTACHED
FILE NAMED PAY SLIP IS YOURS.DO MAKE SURE YOU OPEN THE ATTACHED AND
CLICK RUN TO VIEW.
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR REFUND
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Anti-fraud resources:
