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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "trunk box" (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)
- "monrovia" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "liberia" (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: Mary Clement <chestdame@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: Mary Clement <maclement1980@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 23:08:03 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Dear Sir/Madam
Dear Sir/Madam.
Please do not
ignore this mail but read and consider my offer. My name is Mrs. Mary
Clement a widow of late Mr. Joseph Clement of the origin of Liberia. He
was business merchant that deal on diamond. Suddenly during the first
war in Liberia in 1994, our residence was among those destroyed in
Monrovia when the National Patriotic Front of Liberia led by Prince
Johnson and the Armed Forces of Liberia led by Charles Taylor battled
for control over the capital and all our family members were dead. By
that time, I was pregnant of my son Johnson and by the grace of God; I
was among those sheltered by the Red-Cross. Then, my late husband was
away to Cote d’Ivoire for a business trip. When he got the news, he
required that I join him here in Cote. In 1995 was the year my son
Johnson was born and he is only child I have now. In 2005, my husband
died. Please I am contacting you to be my foreign partner in retrieval
of my late husband inheritance in the amount $1.8m. The money was packed
in a trunk box and deposited in the financial holding company here in
Cote d’Ivoire as our family valuables. I am the next of kin to the
money. The agreement reached between the company and my late husband was
that the trunk box will be shipped to oversea to his foreign partner.
There was no name mentioned because there was no foreign partner. Please
I want you to be my foreign partner and receive this money on our
behalf since the financial holding company insists to stick to the
agreement they reached with my late husband. I and my son are now in a
difficult situation here and we need urgent help from you since we
cannot have access to the only inheritance we have. I have decided to
give you 20% of the money if you can help us as the foreign. Please
pledge to me your support and honesty. You will not regret it if you
really help us. Let me know your answer.
Mrs. Mary Clement
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