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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:
- "with absolute secrecy" (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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Stella Mashaba" <stellamashaba89@gmail.com>
Reply-To: stellamashaba80@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2017 13:13:13 +0530
Subject: I don't mean to bother you,but please be honest.]
Hello Sir/Madam,
I am sorry for this interruption. I have no other way to reach you than
this way if the contents here under are contrary to your moral ethics.
Please accept my apology, but please treat with absolute secrecy and
personal.
I am Stella Mashaba from South Africa am 17 years old and the only
child/Daughter of my late parents. My father was murdered few months back
but before his death he told me about a secret worth $ 9.5 Million USD. I
will love to share this secret with you alone. If you are trusted I will
like to entrust it in your hands and will like you to help me invest this
money. Am willing to give you 30% of the total fund while I take 70%.
I shall give you more details when I see your interest.
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Anti-fraud resources: