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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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.
- 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.
- fundfinancialdepartment@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Tom Smith" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fundfinancialdepartment@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 17:19:30 -0400
Subject: Dear Partner,
Dear Partner,
I enclose copies of the proof of funds and bank confirmation letter of
?5Million Euro & USD$5 Million respectively. Both are from our new clients,
ready and willing to Transfer, Assign or Release of the funds to your
company for investments as stated on the document.
Do confirm acceptance of the terms of partnership i.e. 10% yearly
interest or share the profits 70% for the investor and 30% for you.
Discuss with your partners and let me know if you can handle the
transaction. Note that you will take care of the cost of legalization
and documentations in releasing the funds to your company.
I wait to hear from you soon.
Regards,
Tom Smith
contact (fundfinancialdepartment@gmail.com)
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Anti-fraud resources:
