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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs Eunice Evra" <mrseunice_e@yahoo.com.hk>
Reply-To: <mrseuniceevra@airsoftmail.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:34:42 -0700
Subject: CRY FOR HELP
Dear Friend
I am Eunice Evra, A widow of 45 yrs old suffering from cancer of the breast, As a matter of fact, my late husband WILLED to me in cash; the sum of (US$20,500.000.00 Million Dollars) I decided to contact you for the usage of the funds in the expansion and advancement of humanitarian services. The money was deposited with a Financial Security Assurance Company UK as Gold- Bar and the security company doesn’t know the content of the 2 boxes as it was registered as Gold-Bar. I need you to tell me about you in brief. Thanks as I wait to hear from you.
Kindly feed me back with the following required in formations to enable us forge ahead of this business.God will bless you as you help me to redeem this conisgnment from the security company for humanitarian work and investment under your care and supervision.
{1} Name:
{2} Address:
{3} Age:
{4} Telephone:
{5} Occupation:
Regards.
Mrs. Eunice Evra.
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Anti-fraud resources:
