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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Johnathan Katungi" <test@aisa.ro>
Reply-To: <Johnathankatungi@qq.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 18:54:45 +0300
Subject: Very Urgent
Dear Friend,
I have emailed you earlier without a response. In my first email I mentioned about my late client whose relatives I cannot get in touch with, but both of you have the same surname.
Before his death, he deposited the sum of twenty one million, seven hundred thousand U.S. dollars with the bank and now they have asked me to provide a next of kin. My proposal is that you allow to be presented for this role so that documentation could be processed and payment made in your favour.
Kindly reconfirm your personal data below:
First Name.................
Surname Name:..........
Country Origin:...........
Regards,
Johnathan Katungi
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Anti-fraud resources:
