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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: OFFICE MANAGER <bvqt@xxocn.com>
Reply-To: <jamesrash38@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2016 12:09:28 -0700
Subject: Re: From The Manager
Dear Sir/Madam
This email address is the only similar contact in our records for the next of kin to our late customer who opened an account with our bank and deposited funds since 2009. This account has a ledger balance of $3.5 United Dollars. Now The Kingdom of Cambodian treasury by law mandated our bank to turn over the deposit to the government if nobody from his family claims it. Please, contact me so that i can present you to the bank as his Next of kin. I am his Account manager and will give you all the information you need to claim this fund and transfer it to your bank in your Country or any other Country.
If i present your name to the bank as his Next of kin, The bank will send you a new VISA cash access card for cash withdrawals in any VISA ATM machine anywhere in the World. The bank will also give you international on-line transfer options. With these you can transfer the funds without any risk. You and me will share the money 50% each after transfer charges. If you agree to this, please email me urgently to my private email address below
Please keep this a secret.
Thanks
From James Rash
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Anti-fraud resources:
