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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:
- "dearest one," (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "account in your country or any safer place" (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: "Miss Ophel Grant" <johnwilliamss27@att.net>
Reply-To: <ophelgrant@yahoo.de>
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 03:47:11 -0000
Subject: Dearest One, God bless you
Dearest One,
Compliments of the season,
I am Miss Ophel Grant, My mother Mrs.Olivia Grant just passed away in the month of June 2010. Before my mother's death she had some Money($9.5m) and 50kg of Gold deposit kept in one of the commercial bank here in Accra-Ghana. I want you to do me a favor to receive these funds and Gold to a safe account in your country or any safer place as the beneficiary.
I have plans to continue my Education and do investment in your country.
Pls contact me urgently for further vital details via email:
May God bless you
Miss Ophel Grant
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Anti-fraud resources:
