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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found 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: "Mrs Roseline Ukeje" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <roselineukeje@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2018 01:17:55 -0000
Subject: Help me to invest
Dear Friend,
I need your sincerity and trust which will stand between you and my family. I am a Government official,
a post the government gave me as a compensation for the death of my husband during the war against
the insurgents and I have declared my assets to my Government before resuming office. But I have some
funds in Dubai which I cannot bring back to my country having made my assets known to my Government
excluding the fund in Dubai. My husband deposited the fund before his death. I need your sincere help to
move the fund to your country for my family investment especially in properties. Please tell me if you can
help me conceal the investment. It is a private Investment between my family and your family. I want to
invest $85m in your country and I will instruct the financial institution in Dubai to move the fund to you but
I need your help and advice because I do not know anybody in the country and I have not traveled out of
Africa before.
Please confirm for identification and agreement.
Sincerely yours
Mrs. Roseline Ukeje.
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Anti-fraud resources:
