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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:
- "consignment " (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)
- "million dollars" (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: "Mr. Peter Stones" <lapost@enternet.hu>
Reply-To: peterstones758@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 01 Sep 2020 02:28:45 +0200
Subject: ATTENTION!!!
--
Headquarters of the Internal Tax Service: 1111 Constitution Avenue
Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC Treasure Department
Attention is needed,
Greetings from IMF. I have a vital information which needs to be
attended
immediately. Did you authorized anyone to pick up your compensation fund
from our branch in Arizona?
One Mr Andrew Cox came to our office yesterday in your respect $10.5
million dollars which has been
credited with us for the past 6 months now by the Federal Government to
be transferred into your account.
to pick up the fund.
So we decided to write you to make sure that you Fine of $10.5 million
dollars in our branch office in
Arizona.
We want you to get back to us with the following details:
Full Name:
Address:
Phone number:
This above listed details are as fast as Possible If You Did Not
Authorize Anyone To Pick Up Your Fund
From Our Branch In Arizona.
We Have 3 Means Which You Can Use To Receive Your Fund And You Are To
Choose The Suitable Option For
You Here Are The Options:
(1) Bank to Bank wire transfer:
It will take only 3hrs hours for you to receive it into your bank
account and the transfer fee will cost you $300
(2) I Can credit your fund into ATM visa Card delivery:
It will take 48 hours for you to receive it and the delivery fee is $500
(3) Consignment box delivery:
Your fund will be sealed in a box without anyone knowing what is inside
It will take 3 working days to be delivered to your house. This will
cost $750
Endeavor to get back to us your as in fast as you can with your details
in suitable branch. Urgent
Attention Are Your Needed To Enable S Proceed With The Transaction As
Your Fund Is Ready For Delivery.
Thank You
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