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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million us 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)
- "liberia" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Sandra Moore" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sandramoore@w.cn>
Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2011 07:52:57 +0100
Subject: Please I need your help, Please
Dear friend
My name is Sandra Moore. I am a single lady, and my age is 22 years; I am from Liberia in Africa, I am a first year medical student before this tragedy of war occured in my life. But right now I am residing in a refugee camp here in Togo as a result of war that was fought in my country some years back.
I came from a responsible and Christian family although I lost all my family members in the war. My late father Dr. ELISS JOHNSON MOORE was the Chairman and Managing Director of SWIFT INDUSTRIAL COMPANY LTD, and he was also the personal adviser to the former head of state and ones a Minster for Finance in my country before the rebels attacked our house one faithful morning and killed my Father and Mother in cold blood. I lost my brother in that War.
My Father deposited the sum of $8.5 Million US Dollars in a private security company in London before his demise and the security company has been ordering me to come and take the deposited Family Treasure or it will be registered as unclaimed fund to the Government. I am in a position where I cannot receive the money myself, please i need your help to get the deposit.
I am the only surviving child of my parents and was able to make my way out of the country to Togo where I am living now in a refugee house. I am not in need of your money, all i want you to do for me is to get the deposit out from their custody. I am willing to give you ($1.7 Million USD) for your help which is 20% of the whole money. I will be forever grateful to you for this wonderful thing you are doing for me. You won’t understand how fearful I am thinking that I may lose everything.
I will throw more light on this as soon as I receive your email response that you will be willing to assist me get the fund. Thank you for taking your time to read my mail.
Hope to hear from you soon
Sandra Moore
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