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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:
- "hundred thousand great british pounds" (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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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: =?UTF-8?Q?Morgan_Stanley=C2=AE?= <sales@dote.com.br>
Reply-To: mrwilliamwang7@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2023 19:31:54 -0300
Subject: Notice
Dear Esteemed Beneficiary;
REF:Â BENEFICIARYÂ RECOVEREDÂ FUNDS;
We write to xxxrm you that your long outstanding unpaid fund in the sum
of Twenty Million Five Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds Sterling
Only (£20,500,000.00) has been recovered. We are also glad to tell you
that every necessary official arrangement to release the fund into your
local bank account through Online Banking has been approved. We
therefore request you to submit the below xxxrmation to enable a swift
and safe remittance of the fund into your bank account:
PERSONALÂ DETAILS
1. Your Names:
2. Residential Address:
3. Cell Phone No:
4. Occupation:
5. Nationality:
6. Age
7. Marital Status:
Warning: Please you MUST stop further communication with Anybody,
Office, Individual or Organization relating to this transaction/dealing
to avoid distractions in the remittance of your fund. Note that
communication of any kind outside the Morgan Stanley Bank will
jeopardize the remittance as we are assuring you of a hitch-free
remittance of your fund.
We are expecting a swift response to this letter and upon the receipt of
your response; we shall expedite the approval and remittance of your
fund. Please provide true and correct xxxrmation as we will not be
liable to any wrong remittance of your fund due to wrong xxxrmation
provided by you.
Best regards,
Mr. William Wang
Notification Officer
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