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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)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "robert mugabe" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a "Zimbabwe" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Paul Konta" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <paulkontasmailbox@rediffmail.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:01:57 +0300
Subject: Read Cartefully
Good Day,
You may be surprised to receive this email from me because of the swindle news we hear every day but please do consider it as a request for assistance.
I am Mr. Paul Konta the son of Dr.Simon Konta who was recently murdered in the land dispute in Zimbabwe.
I want a trust-worthy, honest and God fearing individual to go into partnership with me.
My late father was among the few black Zimbabwean rich farmers, murdered in cold blood by the agents of the ruling government of President Mugabe for his alleged support and sympathy for the Zimbabwean opposition party controlled by the entire minority.
Before the death of my father, he told me that he has some money stashed away.
This money was embarked from the purchase of new machinery and chemicals for farms and the establishment of new farms in Lesotho,Swaziland.This land problem arose when president Robert Mugabe introduced a new land act that wholly affected the rich white farmers and some few black vehemently condemned the "modus operandi’ adopted by the government.
As the only son of my of my father, am saddled with the responsibility of seeking a genuine person whom this money could be transferred to without the knowledge of my government who are tactically freezing our family wealth. The money is Nine million United States dollars (us$9m).
Sharing modalities will be discussed after lodgment of the money into safe account. This transaction is 100% risk free and the nature of your business does not necessarily matter.
Forward your phone and fax numbers for secured communications. I will stop here until I hear from you and I will provide more details.
Yours faithfully.
Paul Konta.
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