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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:
- "million 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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Florent Kawanah" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fitri@bol.com.br>
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:57:05 -0000
Subject: Re-reconfirm receipt of this massage
Hello dear,
How are you today? I am Mrs. FLORE KAWANAH an aging widow from Sierra-Leone but am lived here in Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire with my only child EVRA a 17 years old boy. I have being suffering from long time illness since the death of my late husband.
I am contacting you for your kind assistance to help me provide an account to receive my inheritance fund sum US$7.5Millions Dollars and use it for the well-being of the poor in your country or elsewhere in the world. You will be also required to invest part of this fund in a good business for my son EVRA and assist him come over to your country to further his education.
I shall offer you US$1.2Million Dollars out of this total fund for your assistance. I shall also give you extra $250,000 for you to cover any expenses which you may incur in seeing to the success of this fund transfer to your account.
Please reply immediately. Any delays in your replying earlier will give me room to look for another person.
Warmest Regards,
>From your beloved sister,
Mrs. Flore Kawanah and son Evra
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Anti-fraud resources:
