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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)
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "diplomatic agent" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist 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: INFO_SERVICE <williamjohnwilliam1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: officeservice282@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2022 03:54:55 +0100
Subject: Attn,
GREETINGS TO YOU,
We are contacting you regarding your US$10.5 Million Dollars
investment fund deposited with our bank here in New York City, by (
Mr. David Wilson ) Federal Diplomatic Agent. We have been expecting
your email or call as he stated that you will get hold of us for the
wire transfer processing into your bank account.
We choose to update you on the subject matter in case you tried to
communicate with us without succeeding. Please get back to us
immediately you come across this message with below information to
enable us transfer the fund to your bank account.
REQUIRED INFORMATION FOR THE WIRE ARE;
1) ACCOUNT NAME:
2) ACCOUNT NUMBER:
3) BANK NAME:
4) BANK ADDRESS:
5) SWIFT CODE:
6) ROUTING NUMBER:
7) BENEFICIARY ADDRESS:
8) YOUR VALID ID COPY:
We await your urgent response with the above information.
Thank you for understanding.
Best Regards,
Mr. Christopher M. Gorman
Chairperson:
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Anti-fraud resources:
