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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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Geraldine Nelson <gnse7851@gmail.com>
Reply-To: gernels12@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2023 22:21:49 +0000
Subject: hello Dear!!
Hello There!! How are you? I hope you are good. I am very sorry for this
sudden contact. I got your email address through an online directory. and I
am contacting you personally because I seriously need your help. I am a 19
years old girl and the only daughter of my parents. He died in a fatal
chemical reaction accident. My father worked for many years in an
hydroelectric plant and a oil gas company and he made some funds deposit
with my name as next of kin, in his bank before he died and I want you to
help me transfer this money to your own bank account in your country and
also help me come to your country to continue my education. This is because
after the death of my parents, my wicked uncle wants to kill me and collect
my inheritance money from me because I have no one to defend me. I am
writing this mail from a local guest house where I am presently hiding for
my safety. I am willing to offer you 20% of the money as compensation for
your help after the successful transfer. Please reply me urgently so that I
will send you more.
Geraldine.
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Anti-fraud resources:
