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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:
- "hundred thousand us dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "is 100% risk free" (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: "Jan Yiu" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jan1yiu@yahoo.cn>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2012 12:11:28 -0400
Subject: I Need Your Partnership
Hi friend
I Need Your Partnership,
I am contacting you in this way because of the urgency of this transaction.
I am a manager of a bank in China and a financial adviser of a private investor who has a large deposit in my Bank. This transaction involves a total sum of $17.3 Million (17 million, three hundred thousand US dollars) I contacted you due to the death of this customer without leaving any will or next of kin. Be assure this transaction is 100% risk free and will be done legal in accordance to the laws of the land. I have perfected all the underground works locally for a proper transfer of the Fund in the most brief period and being born in the city where the branch of the Bank is situated.
As soon as I get a reply for your interest, i shall send you full details of the transaction and note that sharing will be equal 50%/50% of this Fund.
Please contact me on my private mail for futher questions and clarifications, please.
Kind regards,
Jan yiu
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Anti-fraud resources:
