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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.
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Dorottya Hameed" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrs.dorottyahameed@e-mail.ua>
Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2012 11:34:33 -0300
Subject: Dearest,
Dearest,
I am Mrs. Dorottya Hameed I am originally from Croatia but I was married to a Muslim from Bahrain. I am currently living in Zagreb capital city of Croatia. My Husband died late last year from an unknown illness which I believe was poison because of his opposition to government policies. We were married for seventeen years without a child because my husband was impotent. My husband was rich and from the ruling family but fell out with his people because he married me a Christian and because they believed I was the cause of his non productive problem.
My husband’s relations have confiscated all known assets and fund leaving me with nothing. Recently, a finance house in Bahrain with a branch office in London contacted me and told me that my husband deposited some sum of money in their finance house and that I can claim it. I spoke with the director of the company and explained my situation to him and he accepted to help me move the fund abroad. The total sum is GBP10.1Million {Ten million one hundred thousand British Pounds Sterling}
The truth of the matter is that I do not need the money because I was diagnosed of cancer and I have few months to live. I also do not want my husband’s relations to claim the fund least they use it in a devilish manner. I have therefore decided to donate the fund to an individual or organization that will use the fund for charity.
If you are interested send me your direct telephone number and address and I will immediately inform my attorney to work out the modalities and ensure the release of the fund to you. I can assure you that this will be hundred percent risks free and legitimately done
I am waiting to hear from you urgently.
Regards,
Mrs. Dorottya Hameed
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Anti-fraud resources:
