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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- s.nadine2010@rediffmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Nadine Sidambaram <nadine.sida2011@rediffmail.com>
Reply-To: s.nadine2010@rediffmail.com
Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 00:26:29 -0500
Subject: DONATION FOR CHARITY
I am Mrs.Nadine N. Sidambaram,an Indian Malaysian married to late
politician Mr.N. Sidambaram.
My husband was divisional treasurer of Ipoh Barat unit of the
Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC)
in Perak state.He was brutally murdered by opposing members of his
party for his straightforwardness
and accountability though the government claimed that it was a robbery
attack.I was lucky to
stand this gruesome murder on the night of 13th January 2009.My life
has not being the same since
the demise of my lovely husband.I was diagnosed with cancer of breast
shortly after this accident.
My health has so deteriorated that the doctors say I have few months
on earth.Our only son died in
2007 after a car crash.So,I am in a lonely world of my home waiting
for death to come.
I write you to seek your assistance in the security of US$8.2million
deposited by my late husband
with a security company before he was killed.I am the only one with
direct access and
information of this deposit.I decided to seek help knowing that my
days are numbered having received
a call from the security company that they will turn the deposit to
its treasury if I fail to present
a representative of my family for the claim.I seek your assistance to
be made the administrator to
this inheritance.I intend to introduce you to our family attorney whom
I deem very competent to guide
you through this claim process.Please get back to me for more
information on this inheritance.I was
lead by the Almighty to send this email to you after serious thought
of all emails I saw on the internet.
Please treat this seriously.I have all documents of deposit of this
fund to prove this legitimate to you.
Please follow this link for further information on the gruesome
killing of my husband:
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/malaysian-indian-politician-dies-fighting-robbers_100141594.html
I hope to hear from you soonest before I go.Thank you.
Nadine Sidambaram
s.nadine2010@rediffmail.com
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