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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:
- "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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Rita Michael" <ritamichael9@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "Mrs. Rita Michael" <ritamichael23@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2015 15:11:07 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Good day .
Good day
Dearest One how is your day going,
i hope you are taking good care of
yourself, i am Rita Michael by name i am 27 of age i'm
sorry if this message come to you as an
embarrassment
but i am forced to write to you
because of my suffering i have a son of 1 year old i lost my husband who was father and mother to me 2 months before my delivery,
it was not easy with me because of the condition giving by my late father Chief David .Michael Appe well known
as cocoa merchant he willed cash the sum of $8 .5 Million US Dollars in my name as the only child in Bank at United Arab Emirate Dubai but i have suffered over A year and some months now
because of his condition that I must be 30 years above or evidence of investment intentions especially outside the Africa I have decided to offer you
$1.2m for your assistance with enabling conditions for the release of the fund because i want to go out from here and start my Education in your country i have
to stop here i wish you all the best of the week enjoy your week
yours
Rita Michael
Email
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Anti-fraud resources:
