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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:
- "liberia" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Johnbosco Azi <johnbosco.azi18@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Johnbosco Azi <jb_azi18@outlook.fr>
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 18:23:00 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Greetings from Johnbosco Azi
Greetings from Johnbosco Azi,
Dear Sir,
My Name is Johnbosco Azi and I am 18 old the only child and Son of late Chief Pascal
Azi,I contacted you because i believe that you are a honest and
sincere person who will sincerely assist me in the transaction of Manufacturing and Real Estate management in your country.
I am from Liberia and my late father was an international businessman and a cocoa marchant and my
father was killed by rebels in Abidjan on September 19 2013 and as his only child and Son the Rebels are also seeking to kill me.
Before the death of my Father he deposited (ten million five hundred
USD dollars )$10.5 Million in a suspense account in a bank in Abidjan before his death.
Please I am asking you to assist me so that this funds can be transferred to
your account for Investment.
Every documents about the funds is legal.
Thank you,
Johnbosco Azi.
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Anti-fraud resources:
