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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Malcolm Brown" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mmbrown588@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2018 05:40:56 -0700
Subject: Kindly take note
Good Day
My name is Malcolm Brown, a senior executive of an oil exploration company. I am in charge of contract award. I am making this contact with you after reading your business profile. I have money which runs into millions realized from crude oil deals which i need to move to your country for investment because i would like my family to relocate to your country in future.
Since i am still in active service, i would not be allowed to move the money officially in my personal name, hence the need to seek your collaboration to receive the fund as a foreign business partner. Therefore i am making this contact with you regarding my investment plans. We shall draw up an agreement to spell terms, conditions, benefits and duties before we proceed. Any ideas regarding how you intend to invest the fund would be appreciated greatly.
Sincerely
Malcolm Brown
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Anti-fraud resources:
