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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:
- "escrow account with no beneficiary" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Ulrich@t-mobile.pl
Reply-To: zero070337@gmail.com
Date: 05 May 2020 17:39:15 -0700
Subject: GOOD DAY
My name is Ulrich Bredemeyer, I am a District Manager of one of
the banks here in EUROPE, I am writing you this proposal in good
faith; i am a man of peace I have packaged a financial
transaction that will benefit you and I, as the regional Bank
manager , it is my duty to send in a financial report to my head
office at the end of each business year. On the course of the
last year business report, I discovered that my branch office
made excess profit of (US$42.5Million).
I have placed these funds in escrow account with no beneficiary.
As an officer of this bank I cannot be directly connected to this
money, so my aim of contacting you is to assist me receive this
money in your bank account and get 40% of the total funds as your
commission. I have perfected the banking procedure to enable our
head office transfer the funds into your account in less than 7
working days.
I have not met with you in person neither have I had any business
relationship with you previously but I am instinctively convinced
that you are the ideal person I require to handle the funds for
me. My major concern is to see that this money is transferred
into your account, I would be very glad should you therefore
confirm your willingness to assist in receiving this fund before
my final departure to join you for the investment purpose.
Please reply with the information below to enable me give you a
call to further discussion
FULL NAMES:
FULL CONTACT ADDRESS:
OCCUPATION:
TELEPHONE and FAX NUMBERS:
CELL PHONE:
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
AGE:
Best Regards
Ulrich Bredemeyer
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Anti-fraud resources:
