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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 next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Cen Jianchao" <procurement@nrcs.org>
Reply-To: shun6502@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 2015 18:33:05 -0500
Subject: Ref: Good News
Hello,
I am Cen Jianchao, writing on behalf of my late client. After his death the bank in charge of his estate contacted me to provide his Next of kin to inherit his fortune according to the policy in such circumstances. I have written several letters to the embassy with the intent to locate any of his extended family who should be the beneficiary and my effort has been fruitless.
The board of directors just adopted a resolution and I am given an ultimatum of 30 working days to provide his next of kin or the funds declared as unserviceable and fortified by the bank. Well from my professional experience I can use a legal means to present you as the next of kin of my deceased client since you share same surname to enable you put a claim to the funds.
If you are interested send me a feedback to enable me elaborate you more on this transaction.
Regards,
Cen Jianchao
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Anti-fraud resources:
