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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:
- "there is no risk involved" (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.
- 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.
- misssarah.lembe@yahoo.com (Yahoo; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "SARAH LEMBE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <misssarah.lembe@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2013 23:01:43 -0800
Subject: You, God, and i
Please do not delay in getting back to me so that I can inform Attorney Jim Moss to start the process of legalization. I so much hate my life now and wished my late dad didn't marry a second wife after the death of my beloved mom. But thank God for the WILL which my father made but I still need you to be the only help I so much need in this trying period. After the bank has wired the whole money to your own account I will want you to think of what we can do with it but charity is uppermost in my heart. Please let us put god and trust first so that my mom and dad will smile in their grave. Every paper concerning the fund is with me and i assure you that there is no risk involved. But my problem now is the house in Madrid which was being managed by Mr. Antonio Rodriguez and ever since my father passed on Mr. Rodriguez has not told me anything about that property. Can you help me take a trip to Madrid to see the condition of that property? Living with a tumor in the heart is ki!
lling but i pray god will always t
Contact me on this email: (misssarah.lembe@yahoo.com)
Sincerely,
Sarah Lembe.
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Anti-fraud resources:
