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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:
- "offshore account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Capt.Paul Smith" <rcrrhq@bellnet.ca>
Reply-To: captpaulsmith01@gala.net
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:27:25 -0600
Subject: Partnership!!(Please Respond For More Details
My Name is Capt.Paul Smith a millitary officer serving with the Artillery
military unit of the United State Army in bagdad Iraq. We discover some
funds and we want it to be transfer out of Iraq and since we are working for the
govt.we cannot keep this money. This money is legal and risk free.Once the
funds get to you take your 30% Out and keep our own 70%. Your own part of
this deal is to find a safe place OR any Offshore account where the funds
canbe kept. Please get back for more details.
Regards,
Capt.Paul Smith.
May God bless you and your family
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Anti-fraud resources:
