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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.
- 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.
- +447024045640 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Charles Munyaneza" <mail.eduapple.pl@mail.eduapple.pl>
Reply-To: <charlesmunyaneza1@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:44:45 +0100
Subject: Attention
stoph Schmitz Our company is a trading firm specializing in repairs and retail distribution of electrical products within the United Kingdom and Wales.
We want to replace one of our Directors due to a problem he currently has with the Home office to save the company an embarrasment. If we are able to reach a meaningful agreement with you on your signifying your interest, I will then explain more to you.
This is all I can say for now but it is important that I mention that the Director stands a chance of being deported back to Rwanda from England and has agreed that he is willing to work out a deal whereby he will hand over his shares in the company through a mutual agreement to you, to be redeemed at a later stage and this is a legitimate transaction.
You will be compensated with 14 percent for management fees, kindly write back and I will provide further instructions. I am available via email or telephone: +44-7024045640 and fax: +44 844 774 5598
I will write you back on reading your email or recieving your call or fax.
Finally, please note that this must be concluded in a matter of weeks.
Yours Sincerely,
Charles Munyaneza
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Anti-fraud resources:
