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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Andy Turner" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <turner.andy20@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2011 18:13:48 -0800
Subject: INVITATION
Attention:
I will tell you my story briefly and hope that you will understand why I had to approach you like this. My aim of writing to you through mail is because I feel you are going to be capable of assisting me in transferring the funds out of my country to any foreign account. A customer with the bank I work with died leaving behind a deposit which as it is stands unclaimed as he did not provide for a benefactor who can claim the money.
I know that the bank has not been able to see any relative or somebody who is eligible to claim these funds so I want you to provide me with necessary information and attention so that with the information I have, we will safely secure it to a safe account in your country. We will reach amicably on percentages for sharing on a successful completion of the transaction.
I am waiting for your reply.
Regards
A.T
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Anti-fraud resources:
