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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:
- "there is no risk involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Swami Mahavir" <contactus@indicro.com>
Reply-To: <swamimahavir16@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2024 09:06:19 -0700
Subject: Respected Sir. Ji
Hello Respected Sir,
My name is Swami Mahavir, I am a Bank investment manager in a US bank i have a proposal i want to share with you. There is an Indian investor who died recently in a fatal accident with his family in US and he had fixed deposit investment of 190 Crores in our bank.
I am his account manager and i have all documents relating to the deposit. The main issue is that the bank management is not aware of his death and if they do without a next of kin they will loose everything.
The fund will be sent to the bank treasury and directors will share it among themselves. I know this because i have been with the bank for years and i have seen this corruption happen in the bank. It will not be good for we to allow the investment of our fellow Indian to be wasted by westerners it has to come back home for good use.
I have been posted to head another Unit for a higher position in the bank and someone will replace me and take over all my portfolio. Before this happens i want to present you to the bank as the Heir and next of kin to the late Akash Agrawal.
I request your cooperation to introduce you as the next of kin of the account because you are also Indian and it will be easier and legit. We will process every document change in your name and the bank will give you access to the fund . There is no risk involved and all will be done legally.
We will share the fund 60 for you and 40 for me. I am doing this for my daughters surgery to keep her alive. Please keep this transaction confidential.
get back to me so we can proceed.
Regards,
Swami Mahavir
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