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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: "Dr. Oluwaga Felix" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <oluwaga_felix@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2016 18:03:29 -0000
Subject: YOUR FUND""""">
Hello,
During my official check of fund beneficiaries that are yet to receive their payment, I discovered that you are among those that has suffered a long time delay in receiving their funds because of wickedness of office of the Central Bank Governor.
Presently the Central Bank Governor is on vacation and I want to help you transfer your fund before he comes back from vacation if only you can take to my instruction and directives.
Therefore write me so that I will tell you what to do to enable me transfer your fund directly to your bank account via swift telegraphic transfer before he comes back from vacation.
Regards,
Dr. Oluwaga Felix
Foreign Remittance Director
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Anti-fraud resources:
