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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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "foreign exchange" (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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Katherine Ferrey"
Reply-To: <kathferrey@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2015 13:46:37 +0300
Subject: Desk of Mrs. Katherine Ferrey (Legislative Affair Officer)
Please read the attached file carefully for immediate release of your Over =
Due Inheritance Funds.
IMF seeks to achieve the following objectives:
To promote international monetary cooperation.
To facilitate the expansion of international trade.
To ensure stability to foreign exchange rates.
To reduce disequilibrium in the international balance of payments of member=
countries.
To promote capital investment in backward and underdevelopment countries.
To assist in the establishment of a multinational system of payments in res=
pect of current transactions between the member countries and individuals.
To secure multilateral convertibility (i.e., to convert the currency of any=
member into the currency of any other member).
To provide short term monetary help to members/beneficiaries during emergen=
cy.
To achieve balanced economic growth and high level of employment in member =
coun=ADtries
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Anti-fraud resources:
