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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.
- 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.
- henry.crico@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Henry Crico" <hcrico@securesuite.net>
Reply-To: henry.crico@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2015 07:24:59 -0800
Subject: Letter From Attorney
My name is henry crico an attorney based in London.I represent my late client named slobodan visjjic a contractor who died without leaving a next of kin and funds running into millions of United States Dollars in a financial firm.
As his personal Attorney,after his death i was officially notified and instructed by the firm to provide his next of kin so that the funds in his account is remitted to them in accordance with the inheritance law.
My client died interstate meaning he died without leaving a will hence all my efforts to locate any of his relatives for presentation to the financial firm has proved abortive.I am seeking your consent to
present you as the deceased relative/next of kin and subsequently the beneficiary of the fund so that the proceeds can be paid to you for subsequent disbursement between you and me. 30 percent for me, 65 percent for you and then 5 percent will be set aside for any expenses we might incur in the course of this transaction.
You have nothing to worry about as i am in possession of the personal file of the deceased. After the money is transferred into your account i will come personally to meet with you.
If interested please get back to me immediately as there is no time to waste by simply clicking reply on your page to take you to my personal email.
Yours Sincerely,
Henry Crico Attorney.
henry.crico@yahoo.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
