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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:
- "remain blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Michelle Coulibaly <michellecoulibaly@att.net>
Reply-To: michellecoulibalyid@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:37:14 -0800 (PST)
Subject: GREETINGS
Greetings,
I am Mrs Michelle coulibaly (66 years old)who is now undergoing medical treatment.
I am married to Dr.Gabriel Coulibaly who was a Diamon/Gold dealer before he died in the year 2004.
We were married for eleven years without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $8.5Million (Eight Million five hundred thousand U.S. Dollars) with one finance house in London.
Recently, my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next three months due to cancer problem.
Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to orphanage homes and the less priviledged
The Bible made us to understand that is good to donate to the needies.
I took this decision because I don't have any child that will inherit this money .
miche.Please always remember me in prayers.
Remain blessed in the name of the Lord,
Mrs.Michelle coulibaly
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Anti-fraud resources:
