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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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Patrick Hovakimian" <accounts@bittel.in>
Reply-To: johnbill.cbp@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2023 00:35:39 -0800
Subject: Claim Your Abandoned Winning Funds call at +1 (832) 429-7108! .188
Greetings! I am Mr. Michael Harris, I am the new lawyer that’s appointed to seek for your fund’s release I was given your number by the director of foreign settlement commission to contact you so you can give me the other information that I will need to help you recover your winning funds and all the money that you have lost in the past. It will be our great pleasure to deal with anyone who’s involved in extorting from you, I hereby assure you that you will surely receive your winning funds of $28 million dollars and all the fee that you’ve paid if we manage to arrest of those scammers they will pay you a damages of 10% of what you’ve paid. Okay kindly reply as soon as you can. Thanks you.
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Anti-fraud resources:
