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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Henry Jack <henryjack226@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2010 17:43:12 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: jack
Hello,
I am Henry Jack, Attorney to a late client who is foreigner and an Engineer with one Construction Company here in London. The decease deposited a large sum of money with a security company since 2003.He died here in 2006 and no one has come forward for the claim.
I received a memo from the manager of the company for an interview about the fund in US dollars that belongs to my late client, the company informed me about their policy which is to redirect the fund to the British government treasury because they see no next of kin in his entire file and the money has been there for years which is against the policy of the company.
I am contacting you because of the need to involve a foreigner as the foreign beneficiary of the fund with a legal back up documents from court.Once I hear from you I will furnish you with more details.
Regards
Henry Jack
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Anti-fraud resources:
