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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "huge sum of money" (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 next of kin scam.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- ld43783@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Aaron Worgan <clementkalessou@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2016 23:35:52 -0700
Subject: MONEY READY FOR TRANSFER
My name is Aaron Worgan. I am the Director in charge of Auditing and
Accounting Department of the West African Development Bank in Lome, Togo,
West Africa.
During auditing, my department came across a huge sum of money belonging to
a deceased customer, who died in April 2011 in a car crash alongside his
wife and their only daughter (without a WILL). The fund is valued at $ 17.2
million. Meanwhile, all the whole arrangement to put claim on this fund for
approval and transfer into a foreign account has been put in place. I will
be monitoring the whole situation here in this bank until you confirm the
money in your preffered account and ask me to come down to your country for
subsequent sharing.
I beg you to keep this transaction secret as I am still in service and
intend to retire after we conclude the whole deal. We shall talk about
sharing ratio once you indicate your interest to work with me in this
transaction. Sincerely. Aaron Worgan. Please contact me through my private
e-mail: LD43783@gmail.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
