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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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a next of kin 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.
- petermolewa@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "PETER MOLEWA" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <petermolewa@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 03:21:19 -0800
Subject: PARTNERSHIP
Good day.
I am making this partnership proposal to you in strict confidence. I am writing following an opportunity in my office that will be of immense benefit to both of us. I am a manager in one of the leading banks in my country. In the branch that I managed I discovered an abandoned large sum of money (US$20.5M) in a dormant account belonging to one of our foreign clients.
My findings revealed that the original owner of the account is dead. Since the death of the owner over three years ago the account has been dormant and nobody has come forward to claim the funds.
Since I have all necessary information needed to claim the funds in your name, can I present you as the heir to the deceased before the bank? Your physical presence here is not a priority as all the claim procedures will be done through a proxy. If you would like to work with me to claim the funds then indicate your interest after which we shall both discuss the modalities and the sharing percentage. I will appreciate if you could contact me through my direct email address: petermolewa@gmail.com to register your interest with the following details
Your names............. …………Your country.........…… Your address............…….. Your Age............... Your Fax Number.................... Personal number..............……. Your marital status.....................Phone number.................
Thank you.
Mr. Peter Molewa
Email: petermolewa@gmail.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
