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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:
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Rita Benson <msritabenson@gmail.com>
Reply-To: ritabensonms@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2013 16:32:08 +0000
Subject: Greetings dear,
Greeting dear,
Please permit me to introduce myself to you and my reason for
contacting you. My name is Miss. Rita Benson. I am 19 years old orphan
girl from Republic of Cote D’ Ivoire, but now I am in Republic of Togo
because of the legacy I inherited from my late father. My father
lodged huge amount of money in a bank here amount involved is sum of
USD 2.7Million. I want you to assist me claim my inheritance and
transfer the money to your bank account. I have in mind to offer you
15% of total money for your effort to make sure I claimed my
inheritance. Please if you are interesting reply me so that I can
detail you in full.
God bless you and your family.
Miss. Rita Benson.
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Anti-fraud resources:
