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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: john Steen <je7373711@gmail.com>
Reply-To: johnstee944@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2021 00:33:52 -1200
Subject: Business proposal
Business proposal
Dear Sir,
I apologize for using this medium to contact you for such a huge business
proposal. This is because of the situation of things where my freedom is
violated and limited.
I was once the President/ CEO of a multinational oil company and later a
public office holder and now retired. I am in asylum because of political
oppression of false allegations leveled against me by nefarious politicians
in my country. The truth will come out. It's just a matter of time. I want
to go neutral to invest $35m in your
Country through a neutral individual like you and I will move this fund to
you if you agree to work with me honestly and truthfully.
All I want you to do when the funds are transferred to you is to do a
feasibility study and advise on any sector you deem lucrative to invest in
your country for mutual profit sharing. If this proposal pleases you, reply
for me to forward details and the investment agreement for signing and we
can take it from there.
Waiting to read from you.
Regards,
John Steen
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Anti-fraud resources: