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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:
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: Barrister Johnson Williams <juanfuribee@une.net.co>
Reply-To: Barrister Johnson Williams <mrjohnsonwilliams11@googlemail.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2015 06:07:20 -0500 (COT)
Subject: ARE YOU AWARE OF THIS DEVELOPMENT
Good Day
Be Notified that Mrs Helen came to our office this morning with a letter
of Authorization which states clearly that you authorized her to pay the
transfer fee to have your approved fund of $10 Million released to her
since you were unable to raise the fee.
Kindly confirm this mail to enable us proceed with the fund transfer to
her bank account immediately .
Regards,
Barrister Johnson Williams
Secretary to Hon (Mrs) OkONJO-IWELA.
FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE
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Anti-fraud resources:
