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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:
- "western union" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "(ecowas)" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
Fraud email example:
From: Economic Community <unknow.yes@aol.de>
Reply-To: economicafrican@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2015 14:15:11 GMT
Subject: Attention: Fund Owner,
Attention: Fund Owner,
We the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have actually been authorized by the presidency and the governing board of UNITED NATION (U.N) to investigate the unnecessary delay on your fund transfer. During the course of our investigation, we discovered with dismay that your transfer has been unnecessarily delayed by corrupt officials of the Bank who are trying to divert your money into their private accounts.
We are happy to inform you that based on our commendation/instructions; your entire fund has been deposited in your favor at the Western Union Money Transfer which you can withdraw in any nearby Western Union at your location, you will be withdrawing the maximum sum of ($50,000.00 Dollars daily until you receive the total Fund, We hereby advised you to stop any further communication out of this contact and contact the Western Union Money Transfer through the bellow email in order to release your first payment. We are waiting for your reply
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Anti-fraud resources:
