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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:
- "please indicate your interest" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: James Sizu <james_sizu@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: James Sizu <j88sizu@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2015 13:37:02 +0000
Subject: Private message from Mr. James Sizu
Hello.
I am pleased to solicit your sincere and urgent assistance over this matter, My name is James Sizu . I am arranging to come over to your country with some large sum of money which i planned to invest with your 100% assistance.
However, I do not know any investor in your country who I may trust to handle the business for me as I am a foreigner and will likely travel back to my country as soon as formal agreement is signed and the funds invested in a viable business of your choice. Secondly, I want to know what is required to bring in a large amount of money to your country , I have a reliable contact that can guarantee safety delivery to your place. Could you please indicate your interest to work with me for this purpose?
I want you to let me know the business you planned to invest the funds and what i should be expecting for the period of 5 years. I am prepared to give you 5% of the total sum before investment and 30% of the profit realised for 5 years.
I will inform my attorney to prepare a memorandum of understanding which we should sign on my arrival. I am in need of your response to this arrangement to enable me find out the situation regarding the amount someone can bring into the country although i dont think it is going to be a problem because of my contacts.
Please get back to me as soon as possible for us to discuss further.
Respectfully,
James Sizu.
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Anti-fraud resources:
