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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- 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.
- aidsconsecretary@washingtondc.usa.com (Outblaze.com, Hong Kong; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
- through the following email address: email: aidsconsecretary@washingtondc.usa.com you should also inform them that you were (Washingtondc; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Agnes Henstridge <agneshenstridge@gmail.com>
Reply-To: agneshenstridge@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 6 Mar 2011 12:50:30 -0800 (PST)
Subject: INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE INVITATION IN USA/SENEGAL
INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE INVITATION IN USA/SENEGAL
Dear Friend,
My name is Agnes Henstridge,working with (AMERICAN AIDS ORGANIZATION) Washington DC. We are organizing our 12th AIDS International Combine Conference to tackle HIV prejudice and to protect ourselves and others from HIV transmission. This conference will take place from 20th -- 23rd April 2011 at Washington DC in the United States and in Dakar Senegal from 27th -- 30th April 2011.
If you are interested to participate and want to represent your country,
you may contact the secretariat of the organizing committee for details and information's through the following email address:
Email: AIDSconsecretary@washingtondc.usa.com
You should also inform them that you were invited to participate by friend of
yours (Agnes Henstridge) who is a member of (AMERICAN AIDS ORGANIZATION).
You may get back to me with my email address below.
Email:agneshenstridge@yahoo.com
Sincerely,
Agnes Henstridge.
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Anti-fraud resources:
