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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:
- "urgent assistance" (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.
Fraud email example:
From: "E. Carter" <MarieCARTER@friend.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: mariecarter798@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2020 19:54:30 +0900
Subject: URGENT*********
Hello dear, I was compelled by my present painful poor health condition to send this message to you with high expectation of your acceptance as very urgent matter. Please I will need your urgent assistance in implementing charity projects on my behalf. I was diagnosed with cancer since 5 years ago after death of my husband and our only son Jeff. Please I want you to receive (1,550,000 USD) I have in my account before I will go for second major heart surgery as I have no one to inherit it if I die. I want you to use the money for charitable projects to help other cancer patients in hospitals. Please, I need your immediate assistance to implementing charity projects on my behalf as my last dying wish on earth. Upon receipt of your acceptance I will instruct my bank to open Online Banking Account and give you access secret login and password to have access to transfer money to another account for the charity projects. Please reply me immediately. Best Regards, Mrs. Marie Elizabeth Carte
r - USA
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Anti-fraud resources:
