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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:
- "michael.wilson@onet.eu" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Michael Wilson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <michael.wilson@onet.eu>
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2016 16:44:34 -0700
Subject: HI DEAR
HI DEAR,
HOW ARE YOU DOING? I HAVE A GOOD NEWS FOR YOU AND THIS YOU HAVE TO KEEP CONFIDENTIAL TILL YOU HAVE YOUR PAYMENT RELEASE INTO YOUR DESIGNATED BANK ACCOUNT AS SOME OFFICIALS ARE TRYING TO DIVERT YOUR PAYMENT TO UNKNOWN ACCOUNT.
I AM MICHAEL WILSON WORKING WITH THE CITY NATIONAL BANK SOUTH CAROLINIAN. GET BACK TO ME IMMEDIATELY YOU RECEIVE THIS MAIL AND CONFIRM IF YOU HAVE RECEIVE ANY INVITATION FROM ANY BANK AGENT HERE IN U.S INVITING YOU TO PROCEED TO THE BANK OFFICE TO SIGN A REMITTANCE PERMIT ORDER? AS THE SUM OF $5MILLION BEEN APPROVED FOR ONWARD RELEASE INTO YOUR ACCOUNT WHICH YOU ARE TO BE INVITED BY THE BANK AGENT TO PROCEED FOR DATA IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHORITY TO CREDIT AS SOMEONE SUBMITTED AN ACCOUNT CLAIMING THAT YOU AUTHORIZED HER TO CLAIM THE PAYMENT ON YOUR BEHALF.
DO FORWARD YOUR RESPOND TO THIS MAIL VIA THIS EMAIL ADDRESS: michael.wilson@onet.eu OR CALL ME VIA MY PRIVATE DIRECT PHONE LINE STATED BELOW.
GET BACK TO ME IMMEDIATELY AND CONFIRM IF YOU ISSUED SUCH AUTHORIZATION.
YOURS FAITHFULLY,
MICHAEL WILSON
TEL: 803 619 6542.
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Anti-fraud resources:
