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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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "cymia_williams11@barid.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: "Mrs. Cymia Williams" <mrs.cymiawilliams986@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: "Mrs. Cymia Williams" <cymia_williams11@barid.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 11:23:45 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: My Dear,
 My Dear,
Please I want you to read this letter very carefully and I must apologize for barging this message into your mail box without any formal introduction due to the urgency and confidential of this issue. I know that this mail will come to you as a surprise, please this is not a joke and I will not like you to joke with it. I am Mrs. Cymia Williams from Cote d’Ivoire, but I am presently residing in Benin Republic for safety of my life, because of the political crisis in Cote d’Ivoire. Please I am seeking for you’re since assistance to retrieve and transfer this funds $12.5 Million U.S dollars belonging to my late Husband who was held bondage by the Rebels during the political war 2011 and was later killed. I ran into Benin Refugee Camp during the war when I discovered danger to my life.
Please I wanted to establish a charity foundation and lucrative businesses in your country with this funds $12.500.000 Million which I inherited from my late husband(Dr. Toure Williams). It is my desire to invest this fund into a lucrative business of your choice in your country. I have the desire to transfer and invest this funds in your country and I needed your adequate assistance to claim the money from the Security Firm were my late husband deposited it here for safe keeping and for onward transfer to overseas. I have nice percentage of the money for you after the project. Please kindly keep this mail to yourself for a security reason and get back to me through this email address if you’re interested. E-mail: cymia_williams11@barid.com
Waiting to hear from you soon!
Sincerely Yours,
Mrs. Cymia Williams
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Anti-fraud resources:
