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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447024023266 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs EdinaJones" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <edinajones300@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:46:21 +0100
Subject: How Are You?
My Dear Friend,
I am Edina Jones, A widow of 45 yrs old suffering from cancer of the breast, As a matter of fact, my late husband WILLED to me and my only child a girl of Three years.The sum of (US$10,500.000.00 Million Dollars)
I decided to contact you for the usage of the funds in the expansion and advancement of humanitarian services. The money was deposited with private Vault UK as Gold- Bar and the private Vault UK doesn't know the real content of suitecase as it was registered as Gold-Bar. Please give me more information (Your Profile) about you in brief or contact my Medical Doctor Mr John Goodluck through his telephone number +44-702-402-3266 for discussion because i can not talk with you due to my ill health.
Kindly write me through my private email to enable me give you details of the transaction.Fill in the following required informations to enable us proceed .
{1} Name:
{2} Address:
{3} Age:
{4} Telephone:
{5} Occupation:
Thanks as I wait to hear from you.
Regards.
Mrs. Edina Jones.
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Anti-fraud resources:
