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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:
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- 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.
- susandarrow0980@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Susan Darrow <susandarrow0980@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2023 02:55:10 +0100
Subject: MUTUAL BENEFIT
Dear beloved as a formal introduction I'm Mrs. Susan Darrow and also
an investor in Kyiv, Ukraine . I’m contacting you from the refugee
camp in Poland..During the Russia invasion I was able to moved away
two trunks metal boxes containing $23 million USD away from my office
in Kyiv...The source of the money was a contract I did with the
Ukrainian oil and gas company...
The said boxes is presently with a security company for safe
keeping...If you can help me claim the boxes on my behalf pending
while I’m still in refugee camp...I shall give you 20% of the total
amount of the money in those boxes...
I shall give you more details once you show your willingness to
help...You are humbly advised to contact me through my email address
as susandarrow0980@gmail.com
Remember this transaction is 100% risk free and the boxes was
registered as family treasure so therefore no one knows the contents
of those boxes apart from you and I...
Yours Faithfully,
Mrs Susan Darrow
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Anti-fraud resources:
