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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: United Bank for Africa <departmentofforeignaffairssett@gmail.com>
Reply-To: ubabnk09@outlook.com
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2022 01:35:08 -0700
Subject: Reply once you receive this email
ATT: BENEFICIARY
THIS IS TO BRING TO YOUR NOTICE THAT INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
HEADQUARTER (IMF) HAVE INSTRUCTED THE BANK TO RETURN YOUR PAYMENT FILE
WITHIN 72 HOURS IF THE BENEFICIARY DID NOT COMPLY TO CLAIM HIS/HER
FUNDS BY PAYING THE NEEDED FEE FOR BANK CLEARANCE.THAT MEANS YOU HAVE
LOST, LET US KNOW IMMEDIATELY IF YOU WILL SEND THE FEE BUT IF YOU CAN
NOT SEND THE FEE WITHIN 72 HOURS, LET US KNOW SO THAT WE WILL REPORT
TO THE IMF AND FBI THAT YOU ARE '''COMPLYING''' OR ''NOT'' SO THAT
THEY WILL NOT ASK FOR THE CANCELLATION OF YOUR PAYMENT FILE.
THANK YOU
KENNEDY UZOKA
Group Managing Director/CEO at United Bank for Africa Plc
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Anti-fraud resources:
