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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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Isabel Crawford" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <isabel_crawford18@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2012 21:00:18 +0800
Subject: Isabel Crawford
Dear Friend,
My name is Isabel Crawford and i am writing with heavy tears in my eyes and lack of words. I am 18 yours old and since the death of my parent my uncle has been mal-treating me. he has claimed all the property of my late dad and now am i contacting you with hope that you can help me.
before the death of my Dad he opened an account for me in a bank that my uncle didn't know about and now that my uncle has take eveything from me I need your help to transfer this fund out of the country.
The money in question is £843,000 ( Great Britain Pounds). My uncle is a calous man and I really need your help. I know you will be thinking the where about of my relative well its a long story that i will explain to you once you have indicated interest to help and i will provide you with evidence of the fund.
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Anti-fraud resources:
