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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: Thomas Wanga Maisalah <jp.pipelineengineering@gmail.com>
Reply-To: wanga.tmms4066@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2016 18:26:18 -0700
Subject: Thank You...and have a Nice Day//
FROM;Thomas Wanga Maisalah,
(CO-ODINATOR)
National Centre for Technology Mgt.
Demoratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Hello Sir..I sent you greetings from my country Democratic Republic of
Congo, I got your contact as i was going through some public comments
about the recent rulings & sentence of my in-law Jean-Pierre Bemba
Gombo by the International Criminal Court.
My In-law Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo was sentenced to 18 years in prison
recently for war crimes and sexual violence against humanity and the
wife (being my Sister) who was just released from prison recently told
me how she suffered in prison and how the wicked husband used her name
to deposit some funds in two (2) finance firms.
Now, I and my Sister needed this funds to be remitted out urgently
before it will be consificated by the Government Agency and I want to
know you better to enable us arrange and channel this funds in your
country for you to receive it, So that I or my Sister may come down to
receive our own while you take your own.
I need your feedback Urgtly.
Our Rgrds,
Thomas.W.Maisalah.
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Anti-fraud resources:
