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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "George Duke" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <georgeduke54@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 15:52:57 +0100
Subject: STRICTLY FOR YOU, PLEASE TREAT CONFIDENTIALLY.
Dear Friend
Let me assure you that this is not a scam and also we are aware of
what is going on the internet today.I represent the WILL of my late client
who worked as an independent oil Business magnate in my country and died in a
car crash with his immediate family on the 9th of January 2004.Since the death
of my client I have written several letters to the embassy with intent
to locate any of his extended relatives whom shall be claimants/beneficiaries
of his abandoned Funds and all such efforts have been to no avail. I crave your
indulgence to please contact me through my email with the following
details so as to present you as his surviving next of kin:
1. Your Full Names
2. Your current Mobile No
3. Your age/Sex
4. Occupation
5. Your Current address
6. Name of company (if any)
All I need is your help and support so that we can both carry out this
project. I decided to contact you so that we can both put heads
together and achieve this.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
George Duke
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Anti-fraud resources:
