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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:
- "transfer of your funds" (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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: Kori. L<supports@zoetoday.com>
Reply-To: mskoriogr@gmail.com
Date: 21 Dec 2023 15:28:04 +0000
Subject: Hope this email finds you well.
I hope this email finds you well.
With reference to your pending payment I am contacting you in
regards with the CHANGE OF BENEFICARY'S APPLICATION by Late Mrs.
Anna Nguyen's attorney with your purported authorization. This
issue has been carefully examined and we declined his application
as it lacks merit to release the funds to him. Did you ever
instruct Barrister Bryan Ellis to claim your fund worth
US$11,500,000? which was bequathed to you by Mrs. Anna Nguyen
before she passed away.
This development has caused lots of discrepancies in your payment
file that is why I had to suspend your payment and decided to
contact you directly before re-validating your payment. You can
be rest assured that I will do everything within my capacity to
successfully actualize the quick transfer of your funds to any of
your nominated bank accounts.
Kindly get back to me as soon as possible on what to do.
Thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
Kori L. Ogrosky
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Anti-fraud resources:
