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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: "Mr. Michael Dennison" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <michaeldennison21@mail.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2014 17:14:53 -0500
Subject: The United Nations Compensation Funds Of US$10 Million.
I am Mr. Michael Dennison from Department of Compensation United Nations New York and Department of Commerce United States of America. This is to notify you that after our meeting, we came to a conclusion that we are going to pay you the sum of US$10 Million for your Compensation Funds. This fund of US$10 Million has been approved for final payment and it will be delivered directly to your home address. The funds of US$10 Million have been registered into two metal boxes to be delivered to you with out any problem or delay. You are advised to include the following below details. (1). Full Name: (2). Delivery Address: (3). Telephone Number: (4). Occupation: (5). Age: (6). Gender: (7). Driver’s License OR Passport: (8). Nearest Airport close to you: Best regards, Mr. Michael Dennison. (zeneva.lt)
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Anti-fraud resources:
