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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- 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.
- kabiruwahid114@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: kabiru wahid <kabiruwahid21@gmail.com>
Reply-To: k.wahid201@terra.com
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2016 07:01:31 +0100
Subject: VERY URGENT!!
Hello Dear Friend, I Know That This Mail Will Come To You As A
Surprise As We Never Met Before I Need Your Urgent Assistance in
Transferring the Sum Of ($15.5m) Into Your Bank Account After Hearing
from You I Will Give You More Details about the Transaction please I
would like you to keep this proposal as a top secret and delete it if
you are not interested. Immediately i received your reply with the
following personal information’s bellow,
I will give you full details on how the business will be executed and
also note that you will have 50% of the above mentioned sum while 50%
will be for me. If you are interested to handle this business with me
send me the needed information’s bellow: (kabiruwahid114@gmail.com)
1. Your Full Name:''''''''''''''''''''''
2. Nationality:'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
3. Your Age:'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
4. Occupation:'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
5. Phone Number:'''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Best Regard
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Anti-fraud resources:
