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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united states 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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- ellismichaelm@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Ellis Michael Michael <ellismichaelmm@gmail.com>
Reply-To: ellismichaelm@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 07:23:08 +0200
Subject: Urgent
*Hello Dear Friend,I write to ask you to be my foreign partner and funds
manager to invest the sum of USD$22million,(Twenty Two Million United
States Dollars) in your country.My name is Mr. Ellis Michael from the
richest Diamond producing Central Africa Republic. I am presently in
Johannesburg South Africa. Please contact me as soon as possible if you are
interested in my proposal for more details. Thanks and God bless you as i
wait to hear from you soon.RESPOND BACK TO MY PRIVATE AND DIRECT EMAIL
ADDRESS; ellismichaelm@gmail.com <ellismichaelm@gmail.com>Yours trulyMr.
Ellis Michael*
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Anti-fraud resources:
