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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:
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "SalemFive Financial Services" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <pcsalem@pcsalem.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2018 17:10:46 +0800
Subject: YOUR OVERDUE COMPENSATION FUND
YOUR OVERDUE COMPENSATION FUND
We are contacting you in-respect of your overdue compensation fund totaling the sum
of $100,000 USD as authorized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been pre-loaded
in Visa Prepaid Card which will be shipped to you upon your response to this email.
It was also discovered that you made several attempt in the past to get this fund
released to you but all to no avail. Therefore you are strictly advise to desist
from further contact / communication with any other individual or persons outside
this department to avoid any form of delays or complication towards the immediate
released of your fund in this last quarter of the year and for you to have this fund
released is not far-fetched.
All you need do is to re-confirm your full details as stated below to us immediately for
review and onward processing of your fund for payment.
(1) Full Name:
(2) Address:
(3) Age:
(4) Occupation:
(5) Telephone number:
Upon the receipt of all this information, we shall immediately process your fund Payment
to you without delays as instructed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Awaiting your swift correspondence.
Best regards,
Janet Moore
SalemFive Financial Services
Lagos, Nigeria.
eMail: pcsalem@pcsalem.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
