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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "your payment is being processed" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "to your nominated bank account" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "international remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing 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: "Mr.John Ego X" <xx@yy>
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2017 07:26:13 -0700
Subject: VERIFICATION OF YOUR PAYMENT/WINNINGS FILE.
DIRECTOR INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA(CBN)
TELE:+234-9093281218
VERIFICATION OF YOUR PAYMENT/WINNINGS FILE.
DEAR SIR/MADAM
THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT FROM THE RECORDS OF OUTSTANDING PAYMENT WITH THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA, YOUR NAME/PARTICULARS WAS DISCOVERED AS NEXT
ON THE LIST OF OUTSTANDING CONTRACTOR/INHERITANCE/LOTTERY WINNER WHO HAVE
NOT RECEIVED THEIR PAYMENT.
I WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR PAYMENT IS BEING PROCESSED FROM THE ABOVE PAN
AFRICAN BANK(CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA) AND WILL BE RELEASED TO YOU AS SOON AS
YOU RESPOND TO THIS LETTER.
ALSO NOTE THAT FROM THE RECORD IN MY FILE, YOU
ARE FOUND AS ONE OF THE ABOVE BENEFICIARIES FROM THE ABOVE MENTIONED NATIONS YET
TO RECEIVE OUTSTANDING PAYMENT OF(US$10.5m)
KINDLY RE-CONFIRM TO ME THE FOLLOWING:
1) YOUR FULL NAMES
2) YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS
3) YOUR FULL BANKING PARTICULAR
4) YOUR DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER
5) YOUR OCCUPATION
6) YOUR I.D CARD
AS SOON AS THE ABOVE INFORMATION ARE RECEIVED, YOUR PAYMENT WILL BE MADE TO
YOU IN A :
A, DIRECT WIRE TRANSFER TO YOUR NOMINATED BANK ACCOUNT
B, BY DIPLOMATIC CHANNEL VIA CASH PAYMENT TO YOUR HOME COUNTRY
ANYONE OF YOUR CHOICE .
CONTACT ME AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS MEMO FOR MORE DETAILS
WAITING TO HEAR YOUR URGENT RESPONSE AND CALL ME ON MY PRIVET CELL NUMBER
MR JOHN EGO
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Anti-fraud resources:
