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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:
- "there is no risk involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Hussein" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrs.fatimahh@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2011 15:27:38 +0400
Subject: AWAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU.
HELLO COMPLEMENT OF THE SEASON,
My Name is Mrs Fatimah Hussein my late husband Ibrahim Hussein the branch manager of a Bank here in Libya was kill last month attack by the coalition force on his way going to central bank with security truck thinking that it was military truck for Gaddafi but the truck was moving cash to a save place due to the crisis in the country.
I got your information during my search through the Internet I only hope you can assist me but if you don't want this business offer kindly forget it as I will not contact you again.
Before the sudden death of my husband Gaddafi gave him $10.5M for safe keeping
and immediately my husband died I move this money to secret place out of Libya
As a wife of the account officer of the Bank I can not be directly connected to this money therefore I contacted you if you can assist to receive this money into your Bank Account and invest in a very profitable business in your country. While you will have 20 % SHARE of the total fund which is negotiable.
Note there is no risk involved, because cash have no trace, all I need from you is to stand as the beneficiary of this fund where I deposited it personally till my mourning period is over then I will come and meet with you
If you accept this offer to work with me, I will appreciate it very much. As soon as I receive your response I will detail you on how we can achieve this successfully.
best regards,
mrs. fatimah hussein.
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Anti-fraud resources:
