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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)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Albert Wagner <albertwagner@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: albertwagner60@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2015 11:18:50 +0800
Subject: I Solicit For Your Immediate Assistance
--
Dear Friend,
I have a business proposal for you in respect of the fund belonging to
my
late client, Mr. Paulsen Fredrick who died of cardiac arrest and having
left the sum of £7,525,000.00(Seven Million Five Hundred and Twenty Five
Thousand British Pounds Sterling) in his account without anyone coming
for
it.
I needed a foreigner who would help transfer the fund to his country
for
investment, this deal is very confidential and must be treated as such
.Kindly get back to me for more details
Regards
Albert Wagner
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Anti-fraud resources:
