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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Dickson Ibeh" <dickibe04@gmail.com>
Reply-To: dickibeh04@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 20 May 2020 19:27:02 +0100
Subject: ...Contract / Inheritance Funds
Dear Friend,
There is presently a counter claims over your Contract / inheritance funds and this has been an obstacles behinds your good efforts in the pursuits of your funds.
Someone is presently trying to make us see reasons that you are dead and has instructed him to stand as your next of kin to receive your funds which he has already provided some information for the release of the funds.
If i do not hear from you within the next two working days from today then I shall regard the information provided to us as the correct information and will proceed with the processing of the funds transfer accordingly.
Your response to this matter is needed urgently for proper clarifications.
Regards,
Mr. Dickson Ibeh
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Anti-fraud resources:
