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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "icbc bank" (not involved with lotteries)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million 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)
- "utmost confidentiality" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "wwngyon@mit.tc" (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: Huang Hong <wwngyon@mit.tc>
Date: Wed, 09 Nov 2016 21:45:08 +0000
Subject:
--
I am a manager of private investment in one of the reputable banks in
Hong Kong. Although this medium (Internet) has been greatly abused, I
chose to get through it because it still remains the fastest means of
communication. I assure you that this transaction is 100% free and
legal
risk for both parties to be an insider of the bank.
However, this correspondence is private and should be treated with
utmost confidentiality. The transaction involves the transfer of a
deposit fund for a total of $21.500.000.00 Million Dollars to you in
the legal way. Upon receipt of your reply, I will give you the details
on how the business will be executed and also note that you will have
50% of the amount above as your part while 50% will be for me.
Please contact me at my private email address for further information
if
you are interested: wwngyon@mit.tc
Best Regards.
Huang Hong (ICBC Bank) Hong Kong
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Anti-fraud resources:
