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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: "Esther Aaron" <eaaron1919@yandex.com>
Reply-To: esther.aaron@yandex.com
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2015 10:05:44 -0600
Subject: Permit My Humble Request
Hello,
My name is Mrs. Esther Aaron. I am a widow married to late Patrick Aaron
CEO of a company. I have a touching story of hope and self realization to
tell you. I am diagnosed with chronic cancer in July 2013.
My late husband was very rich; please do not take this letter as one of
those being sent around. In the past one year I have been donating my
money to charity organizations in Philippine and India. Now that my health
has deteriorated so badly, I cannot do this myself anymore. I once asked
two members of my late husband family to close one of my accounts and
distribute the money to charity organizations in Nepal and Pakistan; which
they kept the money to themselves for private use. I do not trust them
anymore because of this experience, as they seem not to be contented with
what my late husband and I have left for them; since after twenty-eight
years of marriage no child.
The last bulk of my money which is unknown to anyone is cash deposit of
GBP8.2M that I have with a finance/security company. I need you to help me
collect this deposit and distribute it to charity organizations to help
earthquake victims, and people suffering elsewhere in the world. Terms of
service will be discussed. I do not need this money anymore as I have a
short time to live as said by my doctor.
NB: At the moment, I cannot take any telephone calls. I am restricted by
my doctor from taking phone calls because I deserve all the rest I can
get.
Please reply me as soon as you receive this email.
Regards,
Mrs. Esther Aaron
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Anti-fraud resources:
