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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:
- "million us dollars" (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)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "ben_bruce001@outlook.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: Facebook Team <normansholparu@gmail.com>
Reply-To: jojo_donald@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 16 May 2014 18:54:06 +0000
Subject:
Greetings with due respect,
My name is Mr Ben Bruce. I work as an accountant with the HSBC bank here in
Malaysia.
I have discovered a deposit of $9.5 Million US Dollars belonging to one
Late depositor.
My bank will release and transfer the funds to your account in less than
fourteen working days . This is possible only if you are interested to
work with me in confidence.
i will give you more details as soon as i hear from you.
I have the feeling that someone in your position is in capacity to handle
this amount and can keep a top secret under mutual trust.
Best Regards and hope to hear from you soon.
please send your reply to my private email address.
( ben_bruce001@outlook.com )
Mr Ben Bruce.
+601126394325.
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Anti-fraud resources:
