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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: Philip Scott <solicitorforum02@gmail.com>
Reply-To: scottphilip02@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2016 17:34:27 +0100
Subject: Can you be trusted ?
I am Mr Philip Scott, I am contacting you concerning a deceased customer
and an investment he placed under our banks management Eight years ago. I
would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail
confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a
result of this mail. I am contacting you independently of our investigation
and no one is informed of this communication.
My proposal: I now seek your permission to present you as a next of kin to
the deceased, as all documentations will be carefully worked to make you
the beneficiary to the funds. I am prepared to place you in a position to
instruct the security firm to release the deposit to you as the closest
surviving relation. Upon receipt of the deposit, I am prepared to share the
money with you. We share the proceeds 60/40.
We can fine-tune this based on our interactions as I assure you of 100%
risk free. I ask that if you find no interest in this project that you
should discard this mail. I ask that you do not be vindictive and
destructive. If my offer is of no appeal to you, delete this message and
forget I ever contacted you.
I have evaluated the risks and the only risk I have here is from you
refusing to work with me and alerting my bank.
I don’t expect you to make a concrete decision without getting clarity and
at such; I am available to clarify any questions or information you may
require prior to making up your mind.
I await your response.
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Anti-fraud resources:
