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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:
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447031979673 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: Whitlock and Associates <whitlockandassociate@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: george.whitlock@counsellor.com
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 15:46:23 +0000
Subject: can you do it?
Bitte können Sie mir helfen, eine Menge Geld von einer Bank? Ich gebe
Ihnen 30% des Geldes, wenn Sie mir helfen.
Dieses Geschäft ist echt und 100% risikofrei. Ich werde eine weitere
Klarstellung zu geben mit dem Dokument, um zu zeigen, wie ernst dieses
Geschäft.
Barrister George Whitlock
Telefon: +447031979673
Please can you help me receive a huge amount of money from a bank? I
will give you 30% of the money if you will help me.
This business is genuine and 100% risk-free. I will give further
clarification with document to show how serious this business is.
Barrister George Whitlock
Phone: +447031979673
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Anti-fraud resources:
