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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)
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- 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.
- baozhaiyang_247@yahoo.com (Yahoo; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Baozhai<chiguayante.cl>
Reply-To: clearfundsworldwide_us@aol.com
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2020 15:48:48 +0800
Subject: Dear Friend
Dear Friend,
I am very sorry for my late response, due to the fact i'm a banker, i'm always busy.
Thank you for giving me your time, Let me start by introducing myself, I'm Mrs Baozhai Yang, a staff of WING HANG BANK here in HONG KONG. I am contacting you concerning a customer and an investment placed under our bank's management; as a matter of fact it was 4 years ago. I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail private and also to kindly respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of this email.
I contacted you independently of our investigation and no one is informed of this communication.
I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I believe would be of interest to you.
It is of great importance for you to take care and understand every word which i will share with you.
I await your urgent response via (baozhaiyang_247@yahoo.com)
Baozhai Yang.
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This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
