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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: "THOMAS RICHARD" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <thamrich@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:55:43 +0100
Subject: REF: INVESTMENT FUND
HI,
MY NAME IS THOMAS RICHARD I AM A FINANCIAL CONSULTANT, A CLIENT WHOM I ASSISTED TO DEPOSIT GBP15, 000,000 .00 IN A PRIVATE EQUITY INVESTMENT TRUST WITH A FINANCE COMPANY WANT TO INVEST THE MONEY IN YOUR COUNTRY.
HE WANT TO KNOW IF YOU CAN PLEASE ASSIST HIM TO INVEST THE MONEY IN YOUR COMPANY? OR IN OTHER GOOD BUSINESS THAT YOU WILL HELP HIM TO LOOK AFTER BECAUSE OF HIS PRESENT HEALTH CONDITION THAT WILL NOT ALLOW HIM DO SO FOR NOW.
HE DIRECTED ME TO SEND THIS EMAIL TO YOU BECAUSE HE IS PRESENTLY IN THE HOSPITAL SUFFERING FORM ESOPHAGEAL CANCER THAT WAS DISCOVERED VERY LATE. HE IS INTERESTED IN COMPANIES WITH POTENTIALS FOR RAPID GROWTH IN LONG TERM CONSIDERING THE PRESENT THE GLOBAL ECONOMY WHICH IS VERY UNSTABLE BECAUSE.
MY CLIENT IS INTERESTED IN PLACING HIS FUND IN YOUR CARE IF YOU WILL ALLOW FOREIGN INVESTORS. PLEASE REPLY TO THIS MAIL WITH YOUR REFERENCE PERSONAL DATA.
YOURS FAITHFULLY,
THOMAS RICHARD
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Anti-fraud resources:
