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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:
- "the consignment" (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)
- "trunk box" (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)
- "consignment " (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)
- "trunk boxes" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr.Mark Nelson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <dr.marknelson@spoko.pl>
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2016 16:26:37 -0800
Subject: Abandoned Consignment
Attn: Consignment Owner,
I am Dr. Mark Nelson the Assistant Director Inspection Unit/United Nations Inspection Agency Oakland International Airport USA.
On my assumption, Your two consignment trunk boxes Contain more than $5.5Million to $5.7Million each and the consignment is still left in our Storage House here at the Oakland International Airport USA. till date. The details of the consignment Including your name, your email address and the official document from the United Nations office in Geneva are tagged on the Metal Trunk boxes in your favor. However, to enable me confirm if you are the actual recipient of this consignment, I will advise you to Provide your current Phone Number and Full Address to enable me cross check if it corresponds With the address on the official documents Including the Name of the nearest Airport around your city.
PLEASE NOTE THAT this consignment is supposed to Have Been returned to
the United States Treasury Department as unclaimed delivery due to the
delays in the Concluding clearance processes and it is the more reason
why you have to act fast now to claim your consignment before further
action of the US Government.
I wait to hear from you urgently if you are still alive.
Thanks,
Dr.Mark Nelson
Assistant Director Inspection Manager
Oakland International Airport California USA.
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Anti-fraud resources:
