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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "middlebrook001@live.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Chris Middlebrook" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <middlebrook001@live.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2013 07:46:10 +0200
Subject: Attn: Dear Friend, 04/22/2013,..//
Attn: Dear Friend,
I am Chris Middlebrook.
I have emailed you earlier on without any response from you.On my first
email I mentioned about my late client Peter, whose relatives I cannot get
in touch with. But both of you have the same last name so it will be very
easy to front you as his
official next of kin.
I am compelled to do this because I would not want the finance house to
push my clients funds into their treasury as unclaimed inheritance. If you
are interested you do let me know so that I can give you Comprehensive
details
on what we are to do.
Yours faithfully,
Chris Middlebrook.
middlebrook001@live.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
