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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: "ROBERT PHILIPS" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <robertphilips333@1email.eu>
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2015 17:54:58 +0300
Subject: YOUR REPLY
RE: Business Opportunities:
I am a Certified Financial Advisor (CFA) resident in the Republic of Ghana and would like to present to you a potential business opportunity for your consideration.
A Group of Three Retired Top Government Officials from a Neighboring Country has solicited for my services to source for a reliable and trustworthy Partner that is capable of receiving their personal acquired funds in US Dollar Currency for intelligent safekeeping and investments. The Mandate given to me by these clients is to make sure that the said funds will be evacuated within 30 days to avoid trace.
If you can receive such funds without hitches, kindly indicate your readiness and willingness to participate in this transaction so as to provide you with Full Details that will enable you to decide if to proceed or to decline. Your commission/sharing ratio is 35% of the total amount to be transferred.
Respectfully,
Mr. Robert Philips
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Anti-fraud resources:
