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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:
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "the diplomat " ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist 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.
- la5900519rahim@yahoo.com (Yahoo; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Laila Umar" <ginc59@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "privateemailtojoesmith@yahoo.com.ph"
<privateemailtojoesmith@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 21:38:32 +0000
Subject: Dear Brother>>>
Dear Brother,
May the peace of Allah almighty God be with you and your family, i have been able secure a shipment for the box which contains $7,000,000.00 and some gold as agreed. You should also know that it took me some time to finding the right people whom are going to Thailand as diplomats as you know it is waring here in Syria. Kindly know that i reached an agreement with the diplomat that you will pay them $300 as handling fee once they get to Thailand. Note that they do not know the content of the box,as i told them it is books and cloths. You must act fast to secure the box and have them ship it to your address. below is the contact information of the diplomat i reached an agreement with.
MR. LAWRENCE RAHIM
CONTACT EMAIL: la5900519rahim@yahoo.com
I hope to hear from you once you have secured the box. I will not be able to check my email until next weekend when i am able to get to this part of the capital again.
Mrs. Laila Umar
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Anti-fraud resources:
