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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "my direct line" (a "direct line" in a scam usually means an untraceable mobile phone number used by a scammer in an internet cafe, a redirection service number that forwards to a mobile or a free voicemailbox in a different country.)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr.Heng Colver" <hanssjohn26@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2020 06:16:10 -0700
Subject: From Dr.Heng Colver
Dear Valued Customer,
I am a senior Banker here in London. I came across your file here in the
Bank after been transferred from our head office to replace the foreign
operation director in our regional office who is now on retirement. After
going through your file, i find out that you have an outstanding payment
here in the Bank which is now in dormant account. Considering the new law
passed by the United Kingdom Government parliament on dormant accounts
which you can veiw below.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4017381.stm
I decided to move this fund out from the dormant account to avoid
Government authorities making use of this fund to carry out social services
in the Country
Call me on my direct line +447872282496.
Looking forward to hearing from you as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
Dr.Heng Colver
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Anti-fraud resources:
