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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. Edward Johnson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <edwardjohnson4@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2013 02:53:06 -0000
Subject: Immediately I hear from you I will let you know
My name is Mr. Edward Johnson: I am an Accountant with the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Ghana, I write to request your assistance in a transaction that involves the transfer of funds four million five hundred thousand United States (US$4.5M) The money was the result of an over inflated contract. I will give more details once I hear from you, including the transfer process. It is very important.
I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate background that will protect you from any violation of the law. I would advise that you give this positive consideration and get back to me soon. I will be flexible and considerate in the percentage of participation will be given to you for your assistance.
Immediately I hear from you I will let you know more details and how we do it. I am sending this email and I hope that you will consider it, but please do not expose it because of my position in the office.
Best regards,
Mr. Edward Johnson
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Anti-fraud resources:
