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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Ryan Winchester <mikeoffice@adinet.com.uy>
Reply-To: winchessryan@outlook.com
Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 11:33:08 -0300 (UYT)
Subject: Reply
Respectively Sir/Madam,
It is my utmost pleasure to announce to you that the United Nation Amnesty
International Debt Resolution have intervened to retrieve your overdue
inheritance payment valued (US$2.5 Million) withheld by some financial agencies
who have prevented you from receiving funds that was earlier promised to you.
Note: Your compensation funds henceforth will be release to you through the
Bank of America as soon as you respond back to my message. Therefore you are
quickly advise to re-confirm the following information below for due payment
processing.
1) Your Full Name . (2) Home Address. ( 3) Country . (4) Telephone. Upon
receipt of your e-mail my office will proceed and conclude your payment
arrangement with Bank of America so that your funds will be release to you.
Thanks,
Ryan J. Winchester
Senior Envoy United Nation
Amnesty International
Foreign Debt Resolution
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Anti-fraud resources:
