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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found 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: michael swasser <michaelswasser50@gmail.com>
Reply-To: michaelswasser60@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2022 04:23:31 -0700
Subject: Payment Approval Notice.
Dear Friend
My name is Mr.Michael, I work in bank as branch manager. I am writing
to seek your cooperation over Investment funds.It is going to be a
bank-to-bank Wire transfer to your designated bank account anywhere
you feel safer.All I need from you is to stand as the original
depositor of this fund.I intend to part 30% of this fund to you while
70% shall be for me.if you are interested kindly get back to me for
more details
With regards,
Michael Swasser
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Anti-fraud resources:
