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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.
- 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)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- captjohnanthony2012@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Captain Anthony" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <captjohnanthony2012@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:52:00 -0400
Subject: URGENT RESPONSE PLEASE !!!
Dear Friend,
I know you will be surprised to read my email. I got your contact from your Email domain, apart from being surprise you may be skeptical to reply me because based on what is happening on the internet world, one has to be very careful because a lot of scammers are out there to scam innocent citizens and this has made it very difficult for people to believe anything that comes through the internet but this is a different case
I am In 4th Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment unit here in Iraq,looking for a chainsaw to cut down a tree next door to our headquarters here in Baghdad stumbled upon a king's ransom.
I can't keep these funds so i want to move the funds to you to keep it In your safe account.The money is legit. If you are interested get back to me for details.You may wish to confirm with this link.
http://www.jonathanforeman.com/military/nyp_iraq/04192003_chest.html
http://www.voanews.com/burmese/archive/2003-04/a-2003-04-20-1-1.cfm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm
Please reply to ; captjohnanthony2012@gmail.com
This business is 100% risk free.
Captain Anthony
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Anti-fraud resources:
