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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "million united states 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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- This email message is a "dying merchant" scam.
- 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.
- bbaruch58@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "BERNARD BARUCH" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <bbaruch58@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2012 17:17:16 +0100
Subject: CARE FOR THE POOR AND NEEDY THIS CHRISTMAS!
Dear sir/Madam,
I am very rich, sick and dying of Esophageal cancer.Can God use you for the poor the poor and the needy. I want to distribute my funds for charity organizations and Church works in America, Asia, Europe and Africa before my death. I found your address on the web email directory of your country and I prayed over it. Let me know if you can assist me. My fund which no one knows about is a deposit of USD$65,000,000.00 (sixty five Million united states Dollars) I deposited with a Finance institution in Europe. I will want you to help me collect this fund and dispatch it. I have set aside 10% for your time and effort . I will explain myself better in my subsequent email. Please reply me if you are willing to assist me
ON MY EMAIL:bbaruch58@aol.com.
God bless you.
MR.BERNARD BARUCH.
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Anti-fraud resources:
