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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:
- "required fee " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. James Larry" <hiroshiitoh@tmc.co.jp>
Reply-To: info.jameslarry01@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2020 08:26:50 -0800
Subject: Good Day
Attention
Good Day,
This is Hon. James Larry . the Former United States Ambassador to Nigeria,I came down here in Abuja Nigeria for an ECOWAS meeting and I was searching for some files that I left in this office before I left and found out that you have not received your fund, I asked the present ambassador Mr W. Stuart Symington what happened that you have not receive your fund and he told me that you refused to pay the required fee for the delivery of the ATM CARD to your home address .
I'm contacting you today because the director who is in charge of the ATM CARD here in Nigeria make it clear to me that they will divert your fund to the Government Treasury if you fail to pay the delivery fee of your ATM CARD which is $100 only according to them. But I told them to wait until I hear from you today so that I will know the reason why you rejected such amount of money which will change your life just because of $100, please be inform that the said ATM Card is worth $5.5millionDollars.
I want your urgent response as soon as you receive this email and for you explain to me the reason why you choose to abandon your ATM CARD because of $100 But if you don't need it then I can change your name to another person so that this Government will not claim this money . Please my dear I want to help you to receive this fund because it was a big shock to me that you have not receive your ATM CARD and withdraw your money for a while now and I'm very sorry for that and you will receive your fund before the end of this meeting which will take us 6 days and I will be here to monitor the transaction until you receive your fund.
Finally, make sure that you reconfirm your full details to avoid wrong claim.
1) FULL NAMES:
2) DELIVERY ADDRESS:
3) PHONE NUMBER
4) COUNTRY:
Best Regards ,
Hon. James Larry
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Anti-fraud resources:
