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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)
- "million us dollars" (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)
- "diplomatic courier" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Marc Voller <warrifle98@gmail.com>
Reply-To: contractorvoller@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2015 23:20:12 +0100
Subject: YOU HAVE 1 NEW MESSAGE
PLEASE READ Dear Friend
I hope my e-mail meets you well. I am in need of your
assistance. My name is Marc Voller a german national. i am a military
contractor here in Baghdad in
Iraq; we have about $9.5 Million US dollars in contract payments that we
want to move out of the country in three digital boxes . My partners
and I need a good partner out there, someone we can trust to
receive the funds on our behalf.
the major reason we wish to move our funds out is due to the major uprising
and problems
in iraq and the war going on right now in parts of this country .
We have made arrangements with a Diplomatic Courier
Service that will move the funds out of Iraq as a
Family Treasures, also we have made arrangement to transfer the said
fund through Bank of
Baghdad depending on what you want, The most important thing is; Can
We
Trust you Once the funds get to you, simply take out
20% as your share and keep the remaining 80% for us.
Your own part of this deal is to find a safe place
where the funds can be sent to, ours is sending it to
you safely.
If you are interested I will furnish you with more
details upon receipt of your response and contact
details. But I can assure you the whole process is
simple and we must keep a low profile at all times.
I look forward to your reply and co-operation.
Regards,
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Anti-fraud resources:
