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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:
- The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "first national bank" (not involved with lotteries)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: angela johnson <test@vox.com.py>
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2019 00:32:27 -0000
Subject: Dear,
--
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Dear partner,
I pray and hope this mail finds you in good condition.
Am happy to inform you that i have succeeded in getting the USD$1,828,000.00
transferred into my account by the First National Bank under the cooperation
of a new partner from your country. As am writing you am presently in Brazil
to invest in Real Estate management/properties.
Although i did not forgot your past effort and attempts to assist me even
though your efforts then was limited due to your poor financial statues you
always complained about. But you never trusted me fully. You always have
some doubt in your mind believing our transaction then was some sort of a
game/fraud or something!!!. But i have decided within myself to compensate
you just as i promised you from the very start.
Now contact my secretary for the money. Do you still have his email
address?. Better still send him a text message on his phone number
+2347060624905 and he will get back to you. Tell him that you are the person
i told him about.
I have already instructed him to send you a Certified Cheque of USD$190,000.
Best Regards,
Mrs. Angela Johnson
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Anti-fraud resources:
