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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:
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Attorney William Pelham <neil.carroll@rafmuseum.org>
Reply-To: infofile020@gmail.com
Date: 24 Aug 2020 09:23:03 +0300
Subject: Dear Beneficiary
Dear Beneficiary,
I am Attorney William Pelham, from the office of the attorney
general of the United States. I am mandated to help you in
release and processing of your payment.This is to inform you
about your abandon fund $5.5 Million brought to
our office on 17/06/2020 for confiscation due to your inability
to claim your fund as the beneficiary.
We received many letters and emails from different people
claiming that you sent them to receive this fund on your behalf,
please confirm if you sent those people to receive your fund on
your behalf. Again, you have until 28/09/2020 to reclaim this
fund If you still want to claim your fund
Reply back and tell us the way you wish to receive your fund.
Your urgent feedback is needed.
Best Regards,
Attorney William Pelham,
>From the Attorney General Office.
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Anti-fraud resources:
