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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:
- "consignment " (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Tom Cannon" <tomcannon@us.army.mil>
Reply-To: t.cannon35@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2015 14:17:08 +0100
Subject: I need your help dear.
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tom Cannon and I am a soldier in the US Army. I am part of the troops posted in Aleppo Syria. Recently during a raid of the rebel hide out I discovered a large amount of treasure in the rebel hideout. I have not told anyone about it and I’m sure no one will miss it if it’s gone. I am not a banker or a jeweler but I can comfortably say the treasure Is worth about $4,000,000.00 or more.
The reason I am writing you this is because I need your help. I am 33 years old never been married and I think its high time I settled down and now with this treasure I think I now have the means to retire and have a good life. The only way I can take the treasure out of Syria is to ship it in a sealed consignment box. Since I have no family which the army knows I cannot say I am shipping it off to any family member but it will be believable if ship it off to my fianc?.
I need you to stand as my fianc? and receive this consignment. I am not asking you to marry me immediately, but since I am ready to settle down and now have the means there is no harm if we gave it a try, as they say life is full of surprises. If you are not willing give us a try I am still willing to give you a good percentage for your help.
Let me know your answer.
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Anti-fraud resources:
