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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:
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "very confidential" (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 next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "PETER KELLY" <peterkelyesq@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2018 22:56:54 +0800
Subject: Dear Jose Labiste=
Dear Jose Labiste,
I am Peter Kelly an attorney to late Mr. Rolland Labiste, a national of your country who died in a car crash with his family here in UK and left behind a deposit of ((£8.7million) here in a bank and I hereby seek your consent to present you as the next of kin since you have the same last name and I have the documents that would confer you the legal right for the claim. Please contact me back if this proposal is acceptable by you, and send to me your telephone numbers to enable us to discuss further on this transaction which will be done legally and risk-free bearing in mind that it is very confidential and private and should be kept as such.I await your urgent response.
Best Regards,
Peter Kelly(Esq).
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Anti-fraud resources:
