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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:
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "janetmdlflore464@gmail.com" <headwallmark@gmail.com>
Reply-To: powelljeromeh249@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2021 08:08:34 -0700
Subject: INTERNATIONAL FUNDS TRANSFER / AUDIT UNIT UNITED NATIONS
INTERNATIONAL FUNDS TRANSFER / AUDIT UNIT UNITED NATIONS
(WORLD BANK ASSISTED PROGRAMME)
DIRECTORATE OF INTERNATIONAL
PAYMENT AND TRANSFERS
870 UNITED NATIONS PLAZA 20-A NEW YORK NY 10017
WIRE TRANSFER/AUDIT UNIT
Our Ref: WB/NF/UN/XX027
TRANSFER DEPARTMENT
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK.
Dear beneficiary,
IRREVOCABLE RELEASE OF YOUR PAYMENT.
However, it may interest you to know that after meeting with the
International Monetary Funds - IMF and United Nations at the office of
Director of Electronic Wire Transfer Department World Bank, there's
concrete aggrement which entered into full partnership with the
Federal Reserve Bank
By means of this message, I wish to inform you that it was notified
that your funds are cancelled, reconfirm the information required …
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Anti-fraud resources:
