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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.
- 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)
- 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.
- mrs.rano57@googlemail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs.Rano Khattah" <maurobiz@fastwebnet.it>
Reply-To: mrs.rano57@googlemail.com
Date: Sat, 29 May 2010 05:13:37 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Please Reply to mrs.rano57@googlemail.com
Dear Friend,
Greetings to you and to every member of your family please permit me to Introdu
ce myself, I am Mrs.Rano Khattah from Uzbekistan who got married to Mr.saifur K
hattah an Egyptian and a very prosperous crude oil Merchant who lost his life in
an Air disaster on one of his Numerous business trips abroad.I was diagnosed wi
th esophageal cancer which has defied all medical treatment and my loving husban
d tried his best to make sure I live but the ugly hands of death took him away f
rom me sooner than I expected.Thisleft me alone in this cruel world. I have been
struggling to live With my condition for the past two years now. As i lay on my
sick bed, i want you to help me in carrying out my last wish on earth which wil
l be very profitable to you. i want to WILL my funds to you which i want you to
distribute part of it to any charity home for me, please for further information
as regards my reasons contact me on this email:mrs.rano57@googlemail.com
Regards
Mrs.Rano
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Anti-fraud resources:
