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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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found 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: Isabel Humberto <lsabelhumberto@qq.com>
Reply-To: isabelhumberto@qq.com
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 11:14:36 +0200
Subject: Hello
Hello, I am Isabel 16 years old Newyork. I lost my parents Lopez and
Texidor Humberto on their way to Cuba in a plane. My late dad owned a
business in Cuba were he had a wife that was not disclosed to my mom
and I. Now after the death of my parents, this woman has come from no
where to claim all my dads properties he left for me. Having stopped
me from going school. Now she is also wanting to claim the $6.5m usd
my father deposited with an insurance company. After reporting to my
dads insurance agent he asked me to look for a relative I can trust.
Reason i am asking your help is I have no relative those i ought to
trust have turned against me. So I will like you to stand in as my
relative to receive this money on my behalf. To claim this fund, all I
need is your name, address and phone so that they can release the
money to you on my behalf. The agent does not know any of my relative
and any one i present he will take Please all i need is your trust.
Yours truly,
Isabel
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Anti-fraud resources:
