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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Daniel Smith" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mr.danielsmith19@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 10:43:17 -0600
Subject: MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE
Good Morning,
The Federal Bureau of Investigation {FBI}/Federal Reserve Bank in conjunction with International Monetary Fund {IMF}has approved a final payment of USD$5.8Million {Five Million eight hundred thousand Dollars} to you as compensation for your failed transaction. Kindly get back to me urgently for more details and for immediate crediting of your account within seventy-two hours.
You really have to stop dealing with those people that are contacting you and telling you that your fund is with them, it is not in anyway with them, they are only taking advantage of you and they will dry you up until you have nothing.The only money needed was just $150 for the paper works, take note of that and your ATM Card will be deliver to you.
NB: This message is most important and urgent and should be treated as such.
Sincerely,
Mr. Daniel Smith.
+2347046983059
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Anti-fraud resources:
