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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 next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Peter Michael <dayyibyusif@gmail.com>
Reply-To: petermicha3l@yandex.com
Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2023 05:57:02 -0700
Subject: Very Urgent
Greeting,
I am Mr, Peter Michael the Deputy Director of National Western Savings
Bank, Due to the urgency of the meeting held by the Executive Board members
of this Bank, there is presently a COUNTER CLAIM on your inheritance fund
of US$5.7Million by Wendy Pattison who is currently trying to make us
believe that you are DEAD and even explained that you entered into an
agreement with her that she should receive your approved UNITED NATIONS
(UN) compensation payment as your next of kin.
Did you sign any deed of Assignment in favor of Wendy Pattison there by
making her the current beneficiary of your fund? Note if you did not sign
or authorize Wendy to receive your fund of US$5.7Million on your behalf.
Kindly reconfirm to us if you are still alive and ready to receive your
approved fund by providing the needed information
Respectfully,
Mr Peter Michael
Deputy Director Foreign Operations
National Western Savings Bank.
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Anti-fraud resources:
