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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- wwwmills@post.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Ian Pekkar <billing@platinumgw.com>
Reply-To: Ian Pekkar <wwwmills@post.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2015 16:50:23 +0600 (BDT)
Subject: Upon receipt of the deposit, I am prepared to share the funds with
you
IAN PEKKAR
Email: wwwmills@post.com
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London, E14 9SR
My name is Ian Pekkar, I am a principal assurance manager
for STANDARD BANK PLC. UK in London. We are conducting a standard process
investigation with respect to a deceased client and
the circumstances surrounding investments he made at the
Private Banking arm of STANDARD BANK PLC. UK. This man died intestate and
nominated no successor in title over the investments made with
the bank. I would respectfully request that you keep the
contents of this correspondence private and respect the
integrity of the information you come by as a result of this
communication.
Please write me back, so I can brief you more detail about this transaction
Respectfully,
IAN PEKKAR
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Anti-fraud resources:
