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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: "John Clef" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <johncl23@live.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 1980 10:47:58 -0000
Subject: TOURISM AND HOTEL INVESTMENT INQUIRY
Dear sir,
TOURISM AND HOTEL INVESTMENT INQUIRY.
Am a legal representative of a top politician and my duties are to source for credible business opportunities in from across the world evaluate the potentials and forward them to his consortium for financing.
Presently, my client is asking me to look out for a viable real estate/hotel and tourism investment portfolio in your part of the world. i would please solicit your co operation in this regard.
You may have to give a detailed account of yourself so we can negotiate your interests with us.
Thanks for your anticipated co operation.
John Clef.esq.
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Anti-fraud resources:
