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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.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- 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.
- nick.treble@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Nick Treble <lily_lee@murakami.com.sg>
Reply-To: nickky_treble@outlook.com
Date: Sat, 02 May 2015 02:17:02 +0800
Subject: Please get back to me ASAP.
Attn: Sir/Madam,
We are offering you a business opportunity and providing investment
funding in any lucrative business you have the competence to manage.
We are an angel investment company based in London, United Kingdom and
we offer funding in a form of a direct loan at a low interest rate at
5% per annum . We are also open to Joint Venture at 30% Return On
Investment (R.O.I) for a period of 5 years with an option for
re-investment once both parties involved are satisfied with the profit
accrued from the project.
Feel free to send your business plan, executive summary and financial
projection for review prior to funding. We are willing to sign a Non
Disclosure agreement with you upon request for your protection.
We look forward to doing business with you.
Respectfully yours,
Nick Treble MBA, PhD.
Tel: +447509758410
Email: nick.treble@aol.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
