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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:
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Richard Bright <info.storage02@gmail.com>
Reply-To: richardbright3@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 17 Jan 2016 01:14:38 -0800
Subject: thanks and hope to hear from you very soon
Dear Sir,
An investment company here in Ghana with interests in oil and gas,
agriculture and considerable presence in the West African sub-region
that has an account in Dubai U.A E. approached me and ask me to help
them find a reliable account overseas where
they willput their money as the Dubai bank has asked them to come and
close their account that they do not accept investors money again in
Dubai.
Now they have decided to repatriate the money back in cash and plan on
what to do hence their contact with me for help. Given the prevailing
banking protocols, they are ready to follow due diligence procedure to
make funds fit for investment under your advice and guidance.
Please if You can handle this, do contact me immediately.
Best Regards
Richard Bright
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Anti-fraud resources:
