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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:
- "consignment " (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: James Entwistle <office4@gonkox.ga>
Reply-To: <usambassdordip@yandex.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2016 15:08:03 +0700
Subject: TREAT AS URGENT MATTER
US AMBASSADOR OFFICE
11 GARIK ROAD LAGOS
LAGOS, NIGERIA
DEAR BENEFICIARY
FROM THE U.S AMBASSADOR TO NIGERIA
BE INFORMED THAT I HAVE USED MY OFFICE TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE
OF YOUR UNCLAIMED PAYMENT SUM OF $15.3 MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS
WITH THE NIGERIAN PRESIDENCY WHICH WAS ORIGINATED FROM A CONTRACTS,
INHERITANCE AND COMPENSATION PAYMENT.
NOW, THE U.S EMBASSY HERE IN NIGERIA HAS MANDATED A DELIVERY
COMPANY THAT WILL BE DELIVERING YOUR PAYMENT TO YOU IN CASH AND THE
CASH PAYMENT METHOD WILL COME TO YOU IN FORM OF A CONSIGNMENT WHICH
WILL BE PACKAGED AND SEALED IN YOUR FAVOR AND THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT
THE DELIVERY COMPANY HAS IMMUNITY TO DELIVER WITHOUT ANY OBSTACLE.
YOU SHOULD SEND YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER AND FULL ADDRESS WHERE YOU WANT
THE DELIVERY COMPANY TO DELIVER YOUR FUND/CONSIGNMENT PACKAGE TO. I
UNDERSTAND THAT SO MANY UNITED STATES CITIZENS AND OTHER COUNTRY'S
CITIZENS HAS FACED A LOT OF CHALLENGES JUST TO CLAIM THESE SAME FUND
BUT THERE WAS NO LUCK THAT WAS WHY I HAD TO INTERVENE ON THIS ISSUE
AND I MUST SAY THAT YOU ARE A VERY LUCKY PERSON BECAUSE ONE OF OUR
AGENT WILL ACCOMPANY THE DELIVERY COMPANY ALONGSIDE THE
FUND/CONSIGNMENT TO YOUR DOORSTEP WITHIN 48HRS AND THERE IS
NOTHING ANYONE CAN DO ABOUT IT SINCE IT WILL BE REGISTERED IN THE
NAME OF MY OFFICE AS THE SENDER.
TO SECURE THE DELIVERY FULLY IN YOUR FAVOR AT THE NIGERIAN AIRPORT OF
DISPATCH,YOUR PACKAGE MUST UNDERGO REGISTRATION AS AN AMBASSADORIAL
PACKAGE IN YOUR NAME FOR THE DELIVERY COMPANY AND OUR AGENT TO BE ABLE
TO DEFEAT ALL ODDS DURING THE DELIVERY PROCESS AND THE COST OF
REGISTERING YOUR FUND/CONSIGNMENT IS US$155 ONLY WHICH IS PAYABLE TO
THE DELIVERY COMPANY BEFORE SHIPMENT WILL BE MADE.
THESE FEE MUST BE PAID WITHIN THE NEXT 72 HOURS TO THE DELIVERY COMPANY
SO THAT ALL NECESSARY ARRANGEMENTS WILL BE MADE BEFORE TIME WILL BE
AGAINST US.
TREAT AS URGENT,
YOURS IN SERVICE
JAMES F. ENTWISTLE
U.S AMBASSADOR TO NIGERIA
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Anti-fraud resources:
