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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.
- 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 beloved," (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united states dollars" (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)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
- 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.
- maddyashley601@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Ashley Maddy" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <maddyashley601@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 10 May 2020 19:49:09 -0700
Subject: Greetings
Dear Beloved,
I am sending you this mail in good faith.My name is Mrs Ashley Maddy,I am a dying woman who has decided to donate what I have for the good work of charity.I am 65 years old and I was diagnosed for breast Cancer for about 2 years now.
I was married to late Engr.Herbert David who was a contractor with the New Zealand Consulate in Malaysia for many years. Before his death in 2016,we both had an account with a financial institution where we deposited the sum of $3.5 Million United States dollars.
Having known my condition; I have decided to nominate you as my beneficiary since the financial company has now written me that the length of time agreed upon to hold my funds have expired. My desire and purpose is for you to promote humanitarian works. I.e. assisting the motherless and less privilege and also for the assistance of the widows and unfortunate mothers. At the moment I cannot take any telephone calls right now due to the fact that my husband's relatives are always around me and trying to see if they can overhear my conversations and my health status as well.
Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated herein. I will give you further details when I hear from you.
I am expecting your response soon. Here is my private Email:Mrs Ashley Maddy (maddyashley601@gmail.com)
Regards,
Mrs. Ashley Maddy.
Mrs.Ashley Maddy <maddyashley601@gmail.com>
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Anti-fraud resources:
