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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: markmrsesther5@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2015 07:18:27 -0700
Subject: YOUR ATM CARD.
How are you today?. Atlast I was able to claim the $5.5M with the help of a=
new partner Mrs Williams Kennedy few days to its cancellation.I have discu=
ssed with the partner (Mrs Williams Kenedy) that the fund was earlier appro=
ved in your favour but you were unable to pay the cost required by the auth=
orities. For record purpose and as my sign of appreciation, I reached an ag=
reement with her that you will be compensated with $2.3M only which will be=
paid to you by ATM CARD OR BY CASH by the security and finance company whe=
re your compensation fund is deposited and she accepted. Hope you are okay =
with this reward and method of payment?. Presently, I am in Austria for a p=
roject and investment with her and will come back to London by july 28th. Y=
ours Sincerely, Mrs Esther
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Anti-fraud resources:
