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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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Marcus Alexandre" <alex.marc@consultant.com>
Reply-To: alex.marc954@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 19:15:05 +0400
Subject: Private Investment
Good day,
I hope you recieve this letter in good faith. Accept my apology for
sending you this sensitive information via e-mail, instead of Certified
mail/Post-mail. This is due to the urgency and importance of this
information.
My name is Marcus Alexandre a nationality of Sao Tome and Principe but
based in London, United Kingdom. I have the mandate of a highly placed top
official in the Oil and Gas sector to source a trustworthy and reliable
individual whom he can place the sum of $49.7M for management, either in
an existing establishment or other venture to be undertaken at your
discretion.
This amount is an over-invoiced contract bills awarded to some foreign
firm by Chevron Corporation. The actual contract bill has been paid out
already leaving the aforementioned sum. We need your assistance in this
urgent deal; the claim documents will be prepared in your name as the last
contractor whose fund is yet to be claimed. You will not be breaching any
law or see yourself at any risk if you accept this proposal and willing to
work with us in TRUST.
All that we require is your TRUST and ability to receive the funds and
invest it in profitable ventures. Details of this will be made clear as
you respond to this letter. In line with this I crave your indulgence to
treat this letter with utmost seriousness and confidentiality trusting
that this will be the beginning of a long lasting business relationship
between us. Hope to hear back from you.
Yours faithfully
Mr. Marcus Alexandre
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Anti-fraud resources:
