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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:
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Forster Metron <a.szymanowska@neostrada.pl>
Reply-To: forstermetron@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:08:06 +0800
Subject: Good day
I am an external auditor for the united overseas bank in American,working as part of a bigger team that covers the entire American region.
An investor died without naming a legal next of kin in my bank,the amount is $20.million,and banking regulation and legislation in America demands that i notify the fiscal authorities after five (5)years.the above set of facts underscores my reason to seek your permission to have you stand as the legal next of kin to the deceased investor.
Please contact me immediately as soon as you receive this message so that this fund will be approved and released to you if only you will adhere and listen to my instructions.am looking forward to read from you sooner.
Metron Forster.
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Anti-fraud resources:
