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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:
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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 orphan scam.
Fraud email example:
From: linda pius <llindapiuss@gmail.com>
Reply-To: linda pius <llindapius@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2018 03:58:28 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Proposal
Hello!Â
My name is Linda Pius. I’m the only child / daughter of late Festus Pius. My father was a very wealthy cocoa merchant in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He also had extensive investments in real estates and oil and gas sectors. My father was poisoned to death by his business partners out of envy.
My mother died when I was just 3 years old. Before the death of my father in a private hospital here in Abidjan on Octocber 16th 2017, he secretly called me on his bed side and told me that he has the sum of (USD$ 8,500,000.00)Â in a fixed deposit account in one of the prime bank here in Abidjan and he used my name as his heir. He further explained to me that my uncles who also doubles as his business partners poisoned him because of his wealth. He advised that I should stay away from them and search for a foreign partner in a country of my choice where I will transfer this money and use it for myself in investments such as real estates or food processing plant.
Please, I am honorably seeking your assistance in the following ways:
(1) To provide a bank account into which this money would be transferred to.
(2) To serve as the investment manager of this money.
(3) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country and continue my education
(4) To secure a resident permit for me in your country.
Moreover, I'm willing to offer you 20% of the total sum as compensation for your effort/ input after the successful transfer of this fund into your bank account. Please indicate your options towards assisting me as I believe that this transaction would be concluded within few days you signify your interest to assist me.
With Kind RegardsÂ
Linda Pius
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