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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "cheques " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Shandong Shifeng (Group)" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <shandongshifeng@qip.ru>
Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2015 04:24:17 -0500
Subject: Part-Time Job
1 Shifeng Road Gaotang
Shandong China 252800
Tel: (86 635) 39519771
(861356)31533218
Fax: (86 635) 39571829
Email: shandongshifeng@qip.ru
Dear friend,
Our company Shandong Shifeng (Group) international with our head office in China is a major consultant and direct agent to first class Company dealing on general Equipment. Our company deals on export and import of Agricultural machinery and General equipment for international trade. We write to you to act as the company representatives in getting to our customers as well as making payments through you as our payment officer. Most of our customers pay out in certified cheques or draft and we do not have an account in your region that our customers can remit the company's fund into. It is upon this note that we seek your assistance to stand in as our representative in your Province. Note that, as the company's representative, you are to receive 10% of whatever amount you receive from our customer as your service rendering and the balance will be paid to the company account.
If you are interested in this part time job,forward to the company the below information to the company private email box: shandongshifeng@qip.ru
Require Information Needed By The Company
*NAME:
*AGE
*YOUR GENDER
*ADDRESS:
*CITY:
*STATE:
*ZIP CODE:
*COUNTRY:
*TELEPHONE:
*PRESENT OCCUPATION:
Regards
Mr Liu, Yean (CEO)
International Trade Dept.
Shandong Shifeng (Group) CO. Ltd
Exporter,Importer & Manufacturer
Agricultural Machines & Equipment.
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Anti-fraud resources:
