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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: "FEDS" <info@go-tisk.si>
Reply-To: cstmrsrvcoffice@aol.com
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2015 14:10:58 +0200
Subject: Money Transfer!!!
Ref: FEDS/GRANT/TT/00198101A
SUB: PAYMENT NOTIFICATION
Good day,
You have an impending payment of US$2.5million with us at the United
States Federal Reserve System (FRS).
Kindly forward a readable copy of your passport or any photo ID, including
full names, address and telephone/Cell numbers to enable our local Reserve
Bank (Key Bank Washington, USA) to process your transfer before the bank
closes today.
Thank you and Congratulations!
Dr. Michelle Pickens (Mrs.) Special Representative,
Federal Reserve System (FRS-OIG) Payment information
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Anti-fraud resources:
