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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "is 100% risk-free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- mrharchaouiahmedl062@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Harchaoui Ahmed Lazher" <mrharchaouiahmedl55@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2020 08:55:27 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: REPLY ME IMMEDIATELY
My name is Mr. Harchaoui Ahmed Lazher, I am an investment manager to investor.
With due respect I am contacting you in respect of my late client fund
valued $19.5 million USD which has been deposited in the vaults of
financial institution and it is in the process of been confiscated by
the state after many years unclaimed. I have tried several time to
locate his relative all my efforts proved abortive. Due to certain
clause on the deposit agreement between the depositor and the
financial institution, I decided to contact you to co-operate with me
to let me present you as his next of kin/beneficiary of the funds.
My request thus is your trust and cooperation to claim the fund and
invest the funds in such a way that it will benefit us and the entire
country. You do not need to worry about anything as I can assure you
that this transaction is 100% risk-free. Reply back email address
(mrharchaouiahmedl062@gmail.com)
I await your prompt response.
Respectfully,
Mr. Harchaoui Ahmed Lazher
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Anti-fraud resources:
