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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:
- "affidavit " (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "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: "Mr.Jack Nkruma" <inzanfo@apl.co.za>
Reply-To: enterprisebank101@yahoo.ee
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2017 00:46:18 +0200
Subject: TREAT VERY URGENT!! DID YOU AUTHORIZE MR GRANT ALAN TO CLAIM
Attention Sir,
One MR GRANT ALAN from Los Angles USA came to our office with an
affidavit he obtained from the Lagos high court/copy of his
international passport that you have died; he stated cause of death as
cardiac arrest. He claimed you WILL your contract /inheritance fund to
him as your cousin.
After the acknowledgement of the receipt of his application for
payment and affidavit we decided to make an independent investigation
through your email address in our file to be sure that what MR GRANT
ALAN is saying is the truth and nothing but the truth, that is the
reason we are writing through this mail box/ address for
confirmation.
If you are still alive we will like you to comment on this claim on or
before Thursday the reason is that we give him appointment for payment
on Friday. If we did not receive any counter claim from this mailbox
we will believe that what MR GRANT ALAN said is the truth. His payment
has been scheduled for Friday this week.
Your prompt reply is urgently needed.
Regards,
MR EMEKA ONWUKA
CHAIRMAN ENTERPRISE BANK LTD
LAGOS NIGERIA
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Anti-fraud resources:
