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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:
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "cashier's check" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "INTERPOL HELP DESK" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <interpolcrimedept@126.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2016 15:49:44 +0300
Subject: Your $2.5 Million Compensation!!!
THIS MAIL IS ONLY FOR THE OWNER OF THIS E-MAIL ADDRESS:
A report came in to this office regarding a fund transfer which you are supposed to receive from COTONOU, UBA BANK. Investigation has been made and we had discovered that the bank manager Mr. Yusuf was behind all the delays and plans to divert this funds to his personal banking account.
The report was made from the State Finance Commission yesterday that your funds have not be released to you. The police took actions and we tracked this BANK. The bank manager was arrested, he is now in jail for attempting a fraud act to seize a fund $2.5 Million a compensation which was made approved by the State Government to you as beneficiary.
The State Finance Commission had given order to the bank authorities to issue a Certified Cashier's check and send it to your home address. So we are sending you this notice, to know if you would prefer the $2.5 Million paid to you by Cashier's check or crediting the $2.5 Million into an ATM VISA CARD?
Waiting on your urgent response.
YOURS IN SERVICE,
MR.PETERS DURU.
INSPECTOR GENERAL OF INTERPOL
CRIME STATE DEPARTMENT.
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Anti-fraud resources:
