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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "DIPLOMAT JAMES EGO" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <agentjames@diplomats.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2018 07:53:42 -0800
Subject: THANKSGIVING GOOD NEWS
Hello Sir/Ma,
I am please to inform you that there has been a latest development. In the spirit of thanksgiving, be informed that your long awaited fund in the tune of $5.5M has finally been approved as your email ID is among the list of Beneficiaries that will receive their fund in other to have a successful thanksgiving celebration with there loved ones and family. It was also brought to the attention of the U.S Customs about the change of address by your partner who claimed to have been working with you. Kindly confirm if this is true and if not kindly reconfirm your address where to have your fund delivered and your direct contact number where you can be reached.
I need you to get back to me immediately because your fund has been scheduled to be delivered to you this weekend.
Regards,
James Ego.
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Anti-fraud resources:
