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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "federal high court" (This court is often mentioned in '419' scams to give the victim a reason why he/she should send thousands of dollars to the scammers. A 'Federal High Court' exists in Germany and Nigeria, but not in other countries, such as the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Senegal, Benin, South Africa or other countries where fake lawyers in scams often claim to be based. )
- 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: "James Kelvin" <test@arosirani.ir>
Reply-To: james.kelvin247@qq.com
Date: Wed, 08 Jul 2015 22:10:53 -0400
Subject: Hello Friend...I sincerely apologize for contacting you without due
permission or under-going due process.
Hello Friend, I sincerely apologize for contacting you without due permissi=
on or under-going due process. I was left with no choice that to contact yo=
u immediately because I consider this information very Urgent and Emergency=
. You will agree with me that experience is the best teacher as we say. I h=
ave had a lot of bad and hurtful experiences from those Fucking Internet Sc=
ammers. I received over 50 mails each day telling me to claim by Inheritanc=
e Funds worth Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand United Stated Dollars. I fel=
l to this trap and I lost a lot of money. I will never forgive those Bastar=
ds from Africa to be specific NIGERIA I am pleased to inform you that i am =
one of the must happiest Man on earth now because I was contacted by the Fe=
deral High Court Officials who directed me to the Real Organization in char=
ge of my Funds. Now I have my funds directly transferred to my Bank Account=
. I will have to enjoy the rest of my life and family with this Fund as I r=
esign my job on the 31th June,2015. I have no reason to keep working when i=
have enough Funds to set up my own establishment. Now you will be surprise=
d how I got to know you. I was with the Federal High Court Official to sign=
and approve the Transfer of my Funds to my Bank (Bank Of America). I saw y=
our name and e-mail address among the Beneficiaries of this Funds. I felt v=
ery sorry for those names and e-mail contacts because I know they might hav=
e been scammed by those Bastard. I quickly write out your email address. Th=
is is why I am contacting you today. If you have received any mail asking y=
ou to make any form of payment to get your Funds. I advice you to ignore su=
ch mail now and contact the Federal High Court Official in charge of the Re=
lease of your Funds. If you can contact her now, she is going to process yo=
ur Funds Papers immediately and you will have your Funds transferred to you=
r Bank Account within the next 24-48hours. But you will be required to prov=
ide your information to prove that you are the real owner and Beneficiary o=
f this Fund. You can contact Barrister Helen Kimberly via e-mail as stated =
below: Federal High Court Of Justice (United State) Name: Barrister Helen K=
imberly (Federal High Court Official) E-mail: baris-helen_kimberly@outlook.=
com My Dear Friend, I hope I have been able to help and prevent you from fa=
lling a scam victim to those insolent bastards. Please feel very free to ge=
t back to me if you need more information on this, i will be willing to hel=
p. Bye for now. Utmost Regards, James Kelvin
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