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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:
- "million dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: MRS ROUX FLORENCE <mrsrouxflorences@gmail.com>
Reply-To: florencemrsroux@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2021 13:46:55 +0100
Subject: Dear Sir
Greetings
Dear Sir ,I am writing in reference to the message i posted to your
address but did not hear from you and decided to email you once again,
My name is Mrs ROUX Florence from United State of America, i'm 60
years old and i'm very sick and diagnosed for cancer about three years
ago,Right now my doctor has informed me that I may not live for more
than two months and i have decided to donate what i have to charity
through you
You may be wondering why I chose you,But I selected you after I prayed
over it. I inherited a total sum of $15 million dollars from my late
husband. The fund is deposited with the Bank of America. My late
husband was a very rich man and I inherited all his wealth after his
death.
So I decided to divide part of this wealth to contribute to the
development of the orphanage homes and less privileges in Asia, Middle
East and other parts of the world. I am willing to donate the sum of
$5 million dollars to you for the less privileges and orphanage homes
in your country.
If your interested get back to me and i will give you the bank
information and in-trust them to transfer the fund into your private
account after you met the requirements
Your sincerely
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Anti-fraud resources:
