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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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Laura Stevens" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <laurajs273@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2018 14:19:23 -0700
Subject: Reassignment of Bank Draft in your Name
I’m Laura Stevens of Federal clearance credit department, we discovered Payment that was approved for an Italian business man living in the USA, Presently, I was asked to raise a Bank Draft for $41million Dollars in his name and have it mailed to his bank. I put up a telephone call and discovered that Mr. Sergio Died two weeks ago in ITALY his home country.
Now i would like to issue an approval letter in your name to enable me change this bank draft to your name and have it sent to your Bank for cash-out. If this is acceptable by you kindly send your banking details and your address and phone number for further discussions on sharing terms.
Thanks
Laura Stevens
Federal Reserves
International Credit Settlement
USA
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Anti-fraud resources:
