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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 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.
- 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 James.C Williams" <geomdipilato@alice.it>
Reply-To: jcwillams2015@outlook.com
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2015 21:59:47 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Good Day
Attention My Dear,
This is Mr James.C. William, the newly Director of West Africa Compensation
Board and I wish to inform you that your name appeared in our 2015 Payment file
to received sum of $10.5Million Dollars which is approved by the Federal
Minister of Finance and Economy in the state and I hereby let you know that you
are very lucky to involve in this 17 selected payment receiver so for immediate
payment of this approved funds so kindly contact me back urgently with Banking
details such as:
Your Name:
Your Country:
Your Bank Name
Your Bank Acct.Number
Bank switch Number:
Your Bank Address:
Your Bank Account Number:
Your Telephone Number
Sincerely
Mr James.C William
+229 99315203
WACO Director
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Anti-fraud resources:
