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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)
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "Charles William" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <charleswilliam11092@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2023 13:30:35 -0700
Subject: Hello dear
Attention:
I am Mr.Charles O William from Nigeria, I need your assistance. I have US$120.000.000.00 ( One Hundred And Twenty Million Dollars ) deposited by my father Mr.Willie Obiano the former governor of Lagos State Nigeria at the security company at city of Green Bay in United State of America. I want you to receive the funds for me today in United States.Once you receive the funds I will fly from here in Nigeria to your country to meet you and invest the funds in your company immediately when I'm out from the hospital.
All you need to do is to send your BITCOIN WALLET ADDRESS to me right now so that the director of the security company will send the funds to your BTC wallet .I hope you can do good by informing me once you receive the funds in your BTC.
God Bless you,
Yours Faithfully
Mr.Charles William
Call +234-913-734-3496
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Anti-fraud resources:
