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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: "Mrs. Jenna Perri" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <attmvic@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2021 19:21:40 -0800
Subject: Confidential Message About Your Fund
My Dear,
I am writing to inform you on the situation of things concerning your overdue payment that has stayed here for so long. I am here to make sure you get back this awaited payment into your account. I overhead the new director collaborating with other commercial bank officials to divert some overdue funds that have stayed here for a lengthy account period into their private Swiss account. And I believe yours is inclusive.
If I can not handle this to the best of my knowledge. I would not have contacted you. I am aware you have spent a lot of money to secure back this fund into your account or have it delivered to you; but they kept requesting for more funds from you thereby depriving you the capacity to get along with them. At this moment, I want you to work with me and make our communications confidential. It will benefit you more if you suspend any form of communication with anyone at the moment until I get back this funds into your account.. I have assisted a certain man from North Carolina USA and it worked out. All you need to do is follow my advice and allow me to handle the rest from here. Get back to me immediately to enable me handle your file of payment in your best interest.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Jenna Perri,
Deputy Governor, Financial Systems Stability Directorate.
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Anti-fraud resources:
