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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: "WONG CHANG" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <6344wongcha@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 23:57:52 -0700
Subject: GREETING FROM MR. WONG
ATTENTION: SIR/MADAM
MY NAME IS WONG CHANG. I AM THE ACCOUNT OFFICER OF MR HUANG GUANGYU, FORMER RICHEST MAN IN CHINA WHO JUST G0T 14YEARS IN JAIL SINCE 18TH OF MAY 2010.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/18/huang-guangyu-former-rich_n_579810.html
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/19/content_9865282.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-18/huang-once-china-s-richest-man-jailed-for-14-years-update2-.html
BEFORE, HE WAS ARRESTED HE CONFINED TO ME ABOUT HIS US$20 MILLION INVESTMENT BUSINESS DEPOSIT AND I WILL LIKE TO HAVE A CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION WITH YOU SO THAT THIS FUND CAN BE TRANSFERRED TO YOUR FOREIGN ACCOUNT INSTEAD OF BEING CONFISCATED OR RENDERED AS UNCLAIMED DEPOSIT BY THE SECURITY COMPANY.
SINCE HE WAS SENTENCED TO JAIL I CANNOT REACH HIM BUT THE FUND WAS MEANT TO FINANCE POSSIBLE INVESTMENT PROSPECTS. THEREFORE, AM PLEADING TO YOU TO HELP ME GET THIS FUND OUT AS I WILL PRESENT YOU WITH ALL PROOFS AND DOCUMENTATION BEFORE MY SECURITY COMPANY TO HAVE THE FUND TRANSFERRED IN YOUR FAVOR AND I WILL COMPENSATE YOU WITH 30 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL MONEY.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED PLEASE REPLY ME WITH YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER SO WE CAN DISCUSS ABOUT THE PROCEEDINGS.
THANKS.
WONG CHANG.
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Anti-fraud resources:
