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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:
- "huge deposit" (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 next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: private.mail17@yandex.com
Reply-To: private.message2017@yandex.ru
Date: 25 Oct 2017 14:49:15 -0700
Subject: Can we work together! lori@redcoyote.com
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Hello lori@redcoyote.com,
Sorry to intrude upon you like this but I have some interesting
information for you. I am a lawyer based in London. I seek your
consent to present you to a bankbecause you share the same last
name with a deceased customer of mine who died in February 2015
and left behind huge deposits. I am unable to locate any of his
extended family or relatives. So I seek anybody with the same
last name. I have been in communication with these banks and they
have made it abundantly clear that I should provide any next of
kin to come forward and claim his deposit.
I am contacting you to assist me in claiming the money before it
is confiscated by the banks. My proposition to you is to seek
your consent to present you as a relation to my client, since you
share the same last name with him.
The onus of presenting a next of kin to the bank rest solely on
my shoulders as the personal attorney of the deceased already
recognized by the bank. The bank will gladly accept whomever I
present to them, so I need to know if we can work together and
achieve this claim and share the proceed equally between us.
Rest assured all legal documents to back up your claim as my
client's next-of-kin will be provided. All I require is your
honest cooperation and partnership to enable me see this
transaction through. I can promise you that everything will be
executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you and
I from any problem. If you are interested and willing to assist
me then please contact me at once to indicate your interest so I
can share more information with you.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Sylvester Aguilar.
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Anti-fraud resources:
