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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)
- "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: James Morgan <valuz17@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrjamorgann@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2023 14:56:55 +0000
Subject: James/gfi
Dear Friend,
Please accept my apologies. I do not intend to invade your privacy, I wrote
to you earlier but you did not reply back.
In my first post, I told you about my late client's untimely death, I
received several letters from his
bank where he made a deposit of Us$10.5 million Dollars before his untimely
death.
The bank asked me to provide his next of kin or any of his relatives who
will stand for this claim, otherwise his fund will be
confiscated by the bank due to lack of claims from his relatives hence I
contacted you to present you as his new beneficiary next of kin.
After your reply I shall give you the full details and procedures of this
transaction.
Waiting for your reply.
Regards
James Morgan Esq.
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Anti-fraud resources:
