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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million united states 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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "fund beneficiary" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- james.anderson@accountant.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "info.ecc@webmail.co.za" <nelsoniborman@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2022 08:57:57 +0200
Subject: COVID-19 COMPENSATION PAYMENT LETTER
Dear Fund Beneficiary,
We have previously sent you emails in respect of your outstanding
compensation payment which has since been assigned to you. We were going
through your payment file and came to a logical conclusion that you are yet
to receive your 2021/22 Covid-19 compensation payment.
We must get you informed that your email was listed among those that are
yet to receive their compensation payment. The United Nations in
Affiliation with the World Bank have agreed to compensate each with the sum
of US$2,000,000.00 (Two Million United States Dollars) only.
For this reason, you are to receive your payment through a certified ATM
CARD PAYMENT. Note, with this ATM Card you can withdraw money and also make
payment anywhere in the World without any problem. Please email the below
agent all your information details regarding this development and to enable
him to proceed:
Contact Person: *Mr. James Anderson*
Email: james.anderson@accountant.com
*Important Notice*: Please ensure that you follow the directives and
instructions of *Mr. James Anderson *so that within 72 hours you would have
received your card payment and your secret pin code issued directly to you
for security reasons. We apologize on behalf of the United Nations
Compensation Commission for any delay you might have encountered in the
past.
Yours Sincerely,
Nelson Borman
(Information Officer)
United Nations Compensation Commission
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Anti-fraud resources:
