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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "confidential business" (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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- bk11@volny.cz (Volny; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Wilson Koma <koma.wilson@yahoo.com.tw>
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2015 18:18:14 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Business opportunity
Sir,
Please, can you be trust in a confidential business transaction. My
client has Millions of United States Dollars for an urgent investment
in your Country. But it must be strictly confidential because he is
still in active service in Government and its 100% risk free because
all legal documents are in my possession for a smooth transaction.
Please, get back to me in if you are interested for full details.
You can send your reply to this email address - (bk11@volny.cz)
Thanks,
Koma
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Anti-fraud resources:
