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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: info <n.info@gmx.com>
Reply-To: <david.robert2@gmx.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2012 23:02:26 +0200
Subject: Thank you for your past efforts
Good day,
Thanks for your past effort in helping me with the funds to your
country, though we did not succeed in completing the transfer then but I
can tell you that now with the grace of God I was able to get the funds
clear with the help of my old friend I met along when the transaction
almost get to an end.
Hence, for your past contribution I have decided to leave some token of
money to show my appreciation for all your effort at transferring the
money then. So it is appropriate that you have a kind of compensation to
take care of your family and start little business you can embark on.
The money I left for you have been deposited in the bank that I will
disclose to you as soon as I heard from you. You will be contacted as
soon as possible for your payment through their online banking or wire
transfer depending on your choice.
Please send me your full details and your telephone number again
because I am not sure the one I have is still recent so that the bank
can contact you as soon as possible.
Thanks and regards,
Your Friend
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Anti-fraud resources:
