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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:
- "huge sum of money" (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)
- "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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr Edward Williams" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <payment.globe.org.1@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 22 May 2019 01:26:01 +0200
Subject: KINDLY GIVE ATTENTION TO THIS PROPOSAL
KINDLY GIVE ATTENTION TO THIS PROPOSAL
I am Dr Edward Williams, the Special Adviser to the President on financial Matters.
I came to know of you during my search for a reliable and reputable Person to handle a very confidential transaction which involves the transfer of a huge sum of
Money valued $75Million to a foreign Bank account for investments in any profitable business in your Country.
I will give you more details as soon as I hear from you and I want to assure you that there is no risk involve in the business as I will give you all the protective documents to protect the fund.
The business is100% Risk free.
I hope to hear from you urgently
Yours Sincerely
Dr Edward Williams
SA to the President on financial Matters
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Anti-fraud resources:
