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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:
- "transfer into your account" (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)
- "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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: irs usa <irsusa9@gmail.com>
Reply-To: irsusa1@rediffmail.com
Date: Mon, 4 May 2015 10:52:35 -0700
Subject: Internal Revenue Service Washington D.C
Internal Revenue Service
Washington D.C
Dear
Be informed that we have resolved every requirement concerning the release
of your worth $10.5 Million US Dollars which came from Africa. The USA
government has mandated the FBI and all other authority involved to sign
the fund release bond. So you are free of any more requirement from all
other authorities that handled your transaction earlier. Get back to us so
that we can advice you on how to receive the fund.
Respond immediately to receive your funds. Do also confirm the below
information to us for proper communication:
Your Telephone Number
Your current resident address
Note that the government requires you to receive this fund so that we can
get the Tax from the fund after the transfer into your account or any other
means of payment you may wish to have. So to avoid charging you for tax
evasion, it is most important that you pick up this fund immediately.
Thanks,
IRS Commissioner
Washington D.C
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Anti-fraud resources:
