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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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 orphan scam.
- 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.
- james.smiths09@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "smith" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <james.smiths09@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2011 18:53:50 -0000
Subject: GREETINGS===
DEAR,
I AM MR .SMITH JAMES,I AM THE ONLY SON OF LATE MR JOHNSON SMITH, MY FATHER DIED IN MYSTERIOUS
CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH I BELIEVED THAT HE WAS POISONED BY HIS BUSINESS ASSOCIATES.
AFTER HIS BURIAL I DISCOVERED A DOCUMENT COVERING (USD 15.5 M) WHICH HE DEPOSITED IN A FINANCE
COMPANY HERE IN ACCRA GHANA I HAVE VERIFIED THE DEPOSIT WITH THE FINANCE COMPANY AND ITS
AUTHENTICITY IS CLEAR.I AM SOLICITING FOR YOUR KIND ASSISTANCE IN THE TRANSFER OF THIS
FUN FROM THE FINANCE COMPANY HERE TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR INVESTMENT.
YOU WILL ALSO SERVE AS THE GUARDIAN TO THIS FUN AS I"M NOT AT ALL KNOWLEDGEABLE IN THE
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS WORLD. I WILL GIVE YOU FURTHER DETAILS AS SOON AS I HEAR FROM YOU AND WE
WILL DISCUSS TERMS AND PERCENTAGE SUBSEQUENTLY BUT YOU MUST TREAT IT HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL.
I WAIT FOR YOUR RESPONSE. OR YOU CAN REPLY ON MY PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS...james.smiths09@yahoo.com.hk
BEST REGARDS TO YOU PLS
MR SMITH JAMES
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Anti-fraud resources:
