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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "stay blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ms. Mary Jean" <mary_jean01@outlook.com>
Reply-To: mary_jean9428@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 7 Sep 2019 11:24:58 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: I AM MS. MARY JEAN, I NEED YOUR HELP
Hello Dear Sir/Madam,
I am Ms. Mary Jean the only daughter of late Mr. Jean Anderson from Cote d`Ivoire. My Late Father was a very wealthy cocoa merchant in the Northern part of Cote d`Ivoire; His death and that of my mum and my junior brother was masterminded by his only brother during the political crisis in my country Cote d`Ivoire in the years 2011. My late father through his hard work during his life time on earth made a fortune and established many businesses which has now been collected by his only brother the suspect that arranged the killing of my parents because of properties.
Through my findings I was able to get some personal documents of my late father and some was a fund deposit amounts to the tune of Ten Million Six hundred Thousand Dollars (US$10.600.000.00) he deposited with a bank under some conditions which necessitate this communication to you which I cannot handle under my age brackets. Presently I am hidden due to multiple attacks from my uncle who wished me dead or to obtain any other documents of my late father that is in my care and the condition of life is very unbearable most reasons I contacted you after much deliberations and prayers.
I am willing to offer you 20% of the total sum as compensation for your EFFORT/INPUT after a successful transfer of the money into your Bank account and also for you to assist me relocate over there as soon as the bank transfers the money into your bank account to enable me have my peace and continue my education over there. Therefore I wish to know your readiness to assist me sincerely over this matter to enable me go further in discussing in details with you and also to enable me send you all vital deposit documents.
Looking forward to your immediate response
Stay Blessed
Ms. Mary Jean
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Anti-fraud resources:
