joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • santosmith@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: santossmith@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 12:36:02 +0200
Subject: YOUR ASSISTANCE

sir,
My name is Mr.Santos Smith, the only son of Dr. Anthony Smith of Zimbabwe . This might be a surprise to you about where I got your contact address. I got
your address from the South African Chamber of Commerce in Johannesburg , South Africa . During the current war against the farmers in Zimbabwe from the supports of our President Robert Mugabe to claim all the white-owned farms to his party members and his followers, he ordered all white farmers to surrender all their farms to his party members and his followers.
My father is one of the most successful farmers in our country and because he did not support Mugabe's ideas, Mugabe's supporters invaded my father's farm and burnt everything in the farm, killing my father and made away with a lot of items in my father’s farm. Before his death, my father had deposited with one of the Security Company in South Africa , through the help of his lawyer who is residing in South Africa some funds.
However, I decided to contact overseas firm and companies that will assist me to invest this money outside Republic of South Africa because as asylum seekers we are not
allowed to operate any bank account within Republic of South Africa . This is the reason I am contacting you as my foreign Partner.

You will read more stories about President Mugabe’s brutal acts by visiting this web
sites; http://www.rte.ie/news/2000/0418/zimbabwe.html

Regards,
Santos Smith.
santosmith@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam