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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 message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: gerald lawson <geraldlawson2001@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2015 09:54:19 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: TREAT AS URGENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear Colleague,
I am working with a security and trust house. There are loose funds running into millions of dollars which beneficiaries are no more. I will like us to work together and invest these funds as I am in position and I have copies of the necessary confidential documents to allow a risk free transfer of these funds to any country. All you have to do is follow my instructions and with in seven banking days we could be in possession of hundreds of millions in American dollars. The owners of these funds are dead and have no next of kin to lay claims. So please be relaxed while handling this transaction as I will destroy all relevant documents that will allow anyone trace these funds to you after we have done the transfers.Kindly get back to me as soon as possible so we can begin.
I know of investment programs around the world that will triple these funds in a space of three months and we can return them back to the cofers of my organisation without any problem. So please set your mind at ease as we become very rich folks. It is all God's blessings.
Thanks for your anticipated cooperation.
Yours sincerely
Engineer Gerald Lawson.
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Anti-fraud resources:
