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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:
- ",000,000" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "John W Monk" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <johnmonk@e1.ru>
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2018 04:32:36 -0700
Subject: Crude Oil Export/Lifting Business
Dear
I earn a living in the oil industry as leader of the Procurement Unit/account department in a refining outfit owned by a Sasol SA.
On my desk is a mandate to arrange for crude oil purchase from Libya for up to 2,000,000 barrels on monthly bases for 12 calendar months.
The essence of my reaching out to you is the fact that am in the process of building a middle man structure to mediate between the 2 parties involved
before the contract is signed. You may be wondering why I cannot do it bmyself right? The honest fact is that as a staff, it is against my company's
operational policy to profit from any dealings with the firm hence the reason I need a trustworthy person outside my work circle in order to
maintain a discreet profile. I wish to extend this partnership to you my friend to build a middle man structure with you, while I work from the back
to guide you.
Our commission/brokerage as middle persons is between $2 - $3 per barrel as case may be. So if the target of 2M barrels is met monthly we stand to share
$4M - $6M every month for a span of 12 months. Worry less about the speedy sales as I have contacts within oil producing country's top officials for
license of crude oil export/lifting to any firm I so present for this business.
Therefore if you can be able to handle this transaction with honesty and integrity, you should come back to me immediately for more details.
Your urgent response is highly needed
Regards.
John W Monk
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