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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "hundred thousand united states dollars" (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)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- adriendevon@virgilio.it (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Grps" <hsb@mail.cnocb.eu>
Reply-To: adriendevon@virgilio.it
Date: Sat, 05 Nov 2016 17:46:28 -0700
Subject: Grps
I was a member of an important committee in Switzerland. This committee was given the responsibility of finding bank accounts in Switzerland that have remained dormant since World War II.
It may interest you to know that in July of 1997, the Swiss Banker's Association published a list of dormant accounts belonging to non-Swiss citizens. The efforts of the Independent Committee of Eminent Persons have resulted in the discovery of 54,000 additional dormant accounts in December 1999.
The Claims Resolution Tribunal handles the processing of all claims on accounts of non-Swiss citizens. During the course of our investigation we found a dormant account with a credit balance of Twelve Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars plus accumulated interest. This fund has been moved to a secret location through a clandestine method. All that is required is for you to provide me with your details for the processing of the necessary legal and administrative claim documents that would facilitate the transfer of the funds in your names.
All details must be sent to the following email for security reasons: adriendevon@virgilio.it
Thanking you in anticipation for your prompt response
Sharon
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Anti-fraud resources:
