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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 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)
- "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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Rosemary David <c_david030@msn.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2018 01:23:33 +0000
Subject: Miss; Rosemary David.Urgent Response.
My dear friend;
I know that this message will come to you as a surprise but don’t worry I found your contact from data base of your country as I was searching for reliable person who will help me champion this business and I decided to contact you.
Let me introduce myself to you, I am a British citizen and my name is Miss. Rosemary David but currently I am living in Abidjan Cote D'Ivoire which is located in West Africa.
I am an accountant working in the bank and I discover an abandon fund ($42, million dollars) which belong to deceased person and the deceased person was into crude oil business before his death.
This customer was killed together with his family during the first war in this country 2002; since after his death no body have come out from his family to claim this fund but through my investigation there is no other person left in his family to claim the fund.
The bank executives don’t have information about the deceased person and his fund but only me know about this that is why I need your help to claim these funds and we will share it between us, 50% for me and 50% for you
This is urgent and this is confidential, keep it only for yourself and If you delay I will find someone else to continue the business with me, which means that I need your urgent response.
Contact me through this email: rosemarydavid01@outlook.com<mailto:rosemarydavid01@outlook.com>
Miss; Rosemary David.
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Anti-fraud resources:
