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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: John Williams <igoryavorskiy6@gmail.com>
Reply-To: kimball@twcny.rr.com
Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2022 04:43:09 -0700
Subject: Ref: Payment of $10,000,000.00 (Ten Million USD.)
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Dear Sir/Madam,
I wrote to you several times to inform you of the above UNCLAIMED
pending amount Ten Million USD which was due for payment to your good
self as beneficiary in our system.
This payment emanates from the security bank with you as the
beneficiary but no valid destination account details for payment.
The process required that you rectify the error as urgent as possible
to enable us release the fund to you immediately. in order to enable
us to respond timely. Alternatively, chat me on whatsapp immediately
you read this message: + 1 315 274 5306
Best regards,
Dr. John Williams
Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
United States of America.
Tel/Whatsapp: + 1 315 274 5306
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Anti-fraud resources:
