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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)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mohammad Ouattara <mohammad.ouattara3238@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mohammadouattara53@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2023 08:47:55 -0700
Subject: TREAT WITH CONFIDENCE AND URGENT PLEASE.
Dear Friend,
I know that this message will come to you as a surprise. I am the
Auditing and Accounting section manager in (BOA BANK) Ouagadougou
Burkina Faso.
I Hope that you will not expose or betray this trust and confident
that I am about to repose on you for the mutual benefit of our both
families.
I need your assistance in transferring the sum of ($12.5M) Twelve
Million, Five Hundred Thousand United Dollars into your account within
7 to 10 banking days,as one of my Bank foriegn clients who died few
years ago without indicating his next of kin to the fund.
If you are really interested in my proposal further details of the
Transfer will be forwarded unto you as soon as I receive your
willingness mail for a successful transfer.
I am expecting your urgent respond.
Have a great day,
Mr mohammad ouattara.
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Anti-fraud resources:
