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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. Never ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
- "trunk box" (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)
- "trunk boxes" (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)
- "i have a new email address!" (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a orphan scam.
- 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.
- taylor.mary1@rocketmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Mary Taylor <taylor.mary1@rocketmail.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:45:37 -0800 (PST)
Subject: MARY TAYLOR
I have a new email address!You can now email me at: taylor.mary1@rocketmail.com
- Dear Sir,My name is Mary Taylor and I am from Zimbabwe and my father was a king in the country, but because of the political problem, my father was kill by President Mugabe Robert Gabriel and my mother heard the news and died of shock, that is why I flee from our country to find refuge in Ghana where my late father deposited 350kg of raw Gold dust in a security company in Accra Ghana. I am looking for a partner who will assist me to sale it in abroad, so that I will Africa to oversea to invest the money and I will give you 35%percentage from the money that we are going to sale the Gold and also I will keep 65%percentage to myself, the Gold is in a 2trunk boxes in the security company in Ghana.Thanks.Mary Taylor.
Anti-fraud resources:
