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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:
- "you are advise to" (this email uses bad English)
- "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: "Minister for Foreign Affairs." <ownjoneseuropeanunion@gmail.com>
Reply-To: geoffreyonyeama549@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2018 09:35:00 +0100
Subject: GOODNEWS FOR YOU?
Attention:Sir/Madam
I am Mr Geoffrey Jideofor Kwusike Onyeama the Special Adviser to the
President Federal Republic of Nigeria in charge of Foreign Payment
Affairs concerning all inheritance/ compensation and scam victims
funds approved by Nigeria Government.
Your gmail email account was listed for this compensation payment and
you are advise to stop every communication with the Central bank of
Nigeria or any Bank/ Representative and Agency contacting you
because you are now approved to receive your payment through the
Nigeria Federal Reserve Account in UK under the Foreign Debt
Affairs.
Kindly reconfirm the details information below for us to start
processing for your payment.
1) Full Name.
2) 2) Contact Address.
3) 3)Direct Telephone Number.
4) ) Occupation.
5) Age and Copy of Identification.
As soon as you receive any email from anybody, make sure you forward
it to us immediately.
Yours Faithfully.
Nigeria's MinisterforForeign Affairs.
Geoffrey Jideofor Kwusike Onyeama
Telephone: + 234-90-952-869-31
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Anti-fraud resources:
