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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:
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Kenneth Pawn" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <kennethpawn@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2014 18:37:09 -0700
Subject: federal reserve bank of chicago
Attention,
This is to notify you that the Federal reserve bank of Chicago has
finalize concluded the issue of your funds valued fifteen million
united states dollars to be released via online banking system perhaps
you are requested to furnish us with your current existing information
listed below:
Full Names:
Residential Address:
Contact Phone:
This is to notify you that upon the return of your email with the
above mentioned information the bank management will immediately
create and issue your online access account to complete the online
transfer by yourself within 4hrs or less depending on how fast you are
on the internet.
Please call help line 774-272-4167
Thanks,
Kenneth Pawn
Branch Manager
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Anti-fraud resources:
