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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: "Management." <bradley.wilks@pbmares.com>
Reply-To: lsdavid1961@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 07 Oct 2022 15:45:43 -0700
Subject: For your kind information
Good Day
I hope this email is still valid because i picked it from your country`s directory in my quest to get in touch with any family member of my late client whom lost his life in Ukraine warzone.
He made a huge investment deposit with us before he went for his last mission in Mariupol, Ukraine as a humanitarian worker and had no registration of a next of kin to this deposit which is why i decided to contact you as you share the same surname with him.
Please also note that my communication with you is under the highest level of confidentiality as i stand to loose my job for having interest in a customer`s claim, I work in Bank of Athens as an account officer and hope you will understand my stand in privacy.
Will be expecting your response with an indication of your direct phone number if this email is valid and you receive this email
Best regards
Richard Kruger
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Anti-fraud resources:
