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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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "DR. Stanley Igho"<webmaster@bsess.by>
Reply-To: igho.stanley@yandex.com
Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2017 12:28:02 -0800
Subject: I want to transfer some money into your account
>From the Desk of:
Dr. Stanley Igho
The Head of Contract/High Commission
Home Affairs
Pvt Contact: +229 62 270 9407
E-mail: igho.stanley@yandex.com
Greetings:
I hereby propose a business deal with great intention to attract your good understanding to this great financial freedom opportunity for us. In 2009/2010 WE awarded a 75.6 million USD contract to a Foreign Merchants (FM) who supplied construction equipments since then the Government delayed the balance payment of 45.2 million USD due-to some interior problems, 6 months ago the payment was approved only to noticed that the supplier passed away last year. WE tried to reach any of the family but all to no avail.
I therefore develop an idea of presenting someone reliable as the business associate to the diseased so the fund will be released to him/her and once that is done I will share the money with the person in 50/50 ratios. In search of the reliable person I came across your contact details with a good feeling of your kind of person and decided to approach you on this great opportunity, this is a good/life time opportunity for us.
What I want from you is to use my power as the Head of the Department to present you as the business associate of the diseased and make sure the payment is approved within 2 - 3 business days by the Management Board (MB). My question is, can I really trust you? If YES and interested in this deal then send me your Full Name, Full Address/Country & Mobile Number, upon the receipt the requested details I will call you to discuss further on this matter. Note we conduct the transfer through bank more detail will be available in my next letter to you. Feel free to email or/and call me on my direct contact details stated above. Looking forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.
Kind Regards
DR. Stanley Igho
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