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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:
- "the consignment" (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)
- "consignment " (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)
- "remain blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: April Juste <web.info24@btinternet.com>
Reply-To: apriljuste@fastwebmail.it
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:14:57 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Did you receive my email
Dear Beloved
Compliment of the day ,I hope you are fine.I have been waiting to hear from you regarding my email message I sent to you about my consignment in your country.Please it very important you get back to me because of time on your willingness to work with me to secure our family valuables.
In humility we come to you with good confidence that you are such a person that has sympathy for humanity, my name is April Juste and my son is Henri we are from Haiti. I am writing you in regard to my late husband who died in the earthquake , I have therefore contacted you to be legally nominated as foreign beneficiary to receive our consignment box in your country after my late husband's American partner wanted to take 50% instead of 20% we agreed after my husbands death. Can you confirm your willingness to receive the consignment box on our behalf if you are given 30%
Thank you for accommodating this humble request.
Remain Blessed.
April Juste
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Anti-fraud resources:
