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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:
- "confidential business" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "David Alechenu" <Sen.david@wto.org>
Reply-To: private.agenda@yandex.ru
Date: 11 Sep 2020 22:46:39 +0200
Subject: info@cannabislegal.de Can we work together?
Dear info@cannabislegal.de,
Pardon me for intruding upon you, I hope my email finds you in a
good spirit this time of the year. I do not presume to know you
but I strongly believe we could be of immense use to each other.
In my search for a credible and capable business partner I found
your contact and I wish to discuss a viable and confidential
business with you.
My name is David Mark, I am a retired Senator of the Federal
republic of Nigeria. I am looking to make a private investment
and I need a trusted partner not directly known to me with the
capacity to handle and receive a huge fund transfer from my
country through a government payment process which is currently
ongoing.
This transaction is worth over $10million. To prove myself, we
can have a meeting before we proceed to get more acquainted. I
need to know if I can trust you to be honest and discreet in
handling the affairs of this project and help me receive this
money quietly in your country. We can make a plan for a long term
business relationship. Kindly get back to me and let me know your
position.
Best Regards,
Sen David Mark(rtd)
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Anti-fraud resources:
