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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "IBRAHIM DANKO" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ibrahmou@yahoo.se>
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2017 19:05:33 -0800
Subject: Re: Confirmation
Attn: Beneficiary,
Did you authorize one Mr. John Lennon from Texas-U.S.A to receive your payment on your behalf?
Did you sign any "Letter of Authorization" in his favor thereby making him the current beneficiary to your funds?
If positive then we require a written confirmation from you before we can process the fund transfer of US$1.7 million to his account. Kindly get back to me ASAP with your confirmation and please include your full names and mobile phone number.
This information is mandatory for requisite ratification, confirmation and recommendation for payment accordingly.
Yours faithfully,
IBRAHIM DANKO
ATM FPD, DEPT, CBN.
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Anti-fraud resources:
