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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:
- ",000,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "remain blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- 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.
- billgatesdonation2020@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
- contact me at this email for your claim: billgatesdonation2020@aol.com i bill gates and my wife decided to donate the sum of (Aol; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr Bill Gates" <judybrown@cogeco.ca>
Reply-To: billgatesdonation2020@aol.com
Date: Thu, 09 Jul 2020 04:07:26 -0700
Subject: 5 MILLION USD DONATION
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5 MILLION USD DONATION
Greetings You have been gifted $5 MILLION USD From Mr Bill Gates. Contact me at this email for your claim: billgatesdonation2020@aol.com
I
BILL GATES and my wife decided to donate the sum of $5,000,000,00 USD
to you as part of our charity project to improve the 10 lucky
individuals all over the world from our $65 Billion Usd I and My Wife
Mapped out to help people. We prayed and searched over the internet for
assistance and i saw your profile.
To facilitate the payment process of the funds ($5,000,000.00 USD) which have been donated solely to you, you are to send me
your full names.................
your contact address................
your personal telephone number...............
SEND YOUR ABOVE DETAILS TO billgatesdonation2020@aol.com <billdonation1@aol.com>
Remain Blessed
Regards
Mr Bill Gates
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Anti-fraud resources:
