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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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million us dollars" (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 orphan scam.
- 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.
- gondobakary@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Gondo Bakary <mrbakarry@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 2014 06:20:53 +0200
Subject: ASSISTANCE NEEDED.
Dear Friend,
I hope my e-mail meets you well. I am in need of your assistance. My name
is Miss Gihna Berky Hussein . My late parents were among those killed
during the 2011 revolution of the ousted former president Hosni Mubarak of
Egypt.
My Late father Engineer Bakary .A.Hussein had the sum of $10.2 Million US
dollars deposited with a financial security company which he wanted to use
for his political campaign but unfortunately,he was killed during the
revolution.Now,i have decided to invest the deposited fund outside my
country and I need a good partner out there, someone whom I can trust to
receive the funds on my behalf as an orphan.
I look forward to your positive reply and co-operation through my private
email address as started thus; gondobakary@gmail.com .
Regards,
Miss G.B.Hussein .
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Anti-fraud resources:
