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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:
- "liberia" (a location commonly mentioned 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: houna <tinahounatina@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: tinainvest@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2011 09:50:05 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Mrs Tina Houna
Dearest Partner,
I am Mrs Tina Houna from Liberia. I am a widow being that I lost my husband a couple of Years. My husband was a serving director of the Cocoa exporting board in cote d ivoire until his death .
He was assassinated last january by the rebels following the political uprising. Before his death he deposited some money in one Bank organization here in economical capital of cote d ivoire the amount is $15million usd.
According to my late husband, the money is meant for unward transfer for the importation of cocoa processing machine. I have plans to do investment in your country, like real estate and industrial production.
This is my reason for writing to you. Please if you are willing to assist me and my only son daniel to retrieve this fund and stand as our foreign partners, indicate your interest in replying soonest.
Thanks and best regards.
Mrs Tina Houna
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Anti-fraud resources:
