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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:
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: Youssouf Yao Diallo <dadavipaul@gmail.com>
Reply-To: youssouyd@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2017 07:16:18 +0000
Subject: Awaiting your reply to give you more details.
*I am a account Manager with reputable bank here in I would love to build
up a solid foundation with you in time coming if you can be able to help me
in this business proposal. Listen, the total sum of €3, 8 Million Euro I
Hoped that you will not betray this trust and confident that I am about to
repose on you for the mutual benefit of our both families So this is the
reason why I contacted you, so that with me giving you all his information
we can release the money to you as the nearest person to the deceased
customer. Please I would like you to keep this proposal as a top secret and
delete if you are not interested. Upon receipt of your reply, I will send
you full detail on how the business will be executed. Please if you're
willing to participate with me and secure this fund for our both benefit
kindly reply me yours sincerely, Mr. Youssouf Diallo*
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Anti-fraud resources:
