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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:
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- This email message is a orphan scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Joyce" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <joyckone1@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2019 17:14:34 +0900
Subject: Trsted Partiner Needed Urgent,
Trsted Partiner Needed Urgent,
I am Miss Joyce from ivory Coast my late father deposit 37kg of Raw Gold on my name in a security company and also 2.300m united states dollars as family valuables which he openly declared to security authority as personal belongings and mention that i will has assets only to invest abroad and i want honest person to handle the property i want an honest investor manager guardian who will stand for me sale this Gold transfer this money to his or her account and look for a profitable investment outside my country for security reasons.
Note i am going to send you all the documents proven that i am the next of kin and you will hear from the security company for verification.
Regards
Mis Joyce.
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Anti-fraud resources:
