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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.
- 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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- misshelenlamin9@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Miss Helen Lamin" <info@gmail.com>
Reply-To: misshelenlamin9@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2011 22:37:58 +0600 (BDT)
Subject:
Hello, My name is Miss Helen Lamin, I am writing you from Accra, Ghana ...
I am originally from Sierra Leone, but leaving in Ghana as a Refugee..I
came to Ghana because of the war that took place in my country some years
back and I want to assume you heard about the war that destroy the greater
part of my country and took the lives of so many people..The war took the
lives of my entire family and I have lived alone these past years as a
Refugee in Ghana..The life here has been very horrible for me and I have
been struggling to cope with the situation, hence my decision to contact
you, with the hope that you might be able to assist me with the following
BUSINESS PROPOSAL..
I seek your help to assit me transfer my INHERITED MONEY DEPOSITED IN A
SECURITY COMPANY in SPAIN to your country for investment. Please contact
me via (misshelenlamin9@gmail.com) for more details.
Helen
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Anti-fraud resources:
