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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:
- "million united states 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: Kristalina Georgieva <westernuniontransfer4789@gmail.com>
Reply-To: imfoffice152@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2021 01:42:21 -0800
Subject: ATTENTION DEAR EMAIL OWNER
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This is Ms Kristalina Georgieva from International Monetary Fund and
the managing director of IMF, I am hereby to let you know that your
compensation funds has been received into our office here
International Monetary Fund Custody and I’m the only person appointed
to have it delivered to your address by my personal agent, it is said
to be a total sum of $10million united states dollars only.
Furthermore we need you to get us a personal proof of you together
with where the funds will be delivered too, to ensure it’s same with
what we have here. Do note that your stamp yellow tag fee and delivery
stamp will be cleared as well to ensure all documents are stamped and
signed here before direct delivery to your home address. Fill with
your delivery details for the proper verification and confirmation of
your funds to avoid wrong delivery.
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Anti-fraud resources:
