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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:
- "your urgent reply" (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.
- 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.
- fatimaevah@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Fatima Evah <fatima.evah@hotmail.fr>
Reply-To: fatimaevah@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:37:11 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: INQUIRY
Greeting,
I am Fatima Evah, I am contacting you directly for us to have this deal /transaction for our mutual benefit.
I am a portfolio manager in my bank; I contacted you to work together with me in claiming the fund belonging to my deceased client.
Unfortunately he died without a registered next of kin and my bank will want to declare the fund as unclaimed fund and send it to national reserve bank. I want you to come in as an investment partner/Trustee to my client. I will prepare all document in your favour to ensure that my bank transfer the fund to your account that you will provide.
If you are interested to transact with me, please send me your acceptance letter with your contact and bank account detail. I want to assure you that there is no risk in this operation. I will take care of the notary mobilization for thr payperwork.
I wait for your urgent reply Via: fatimaevah@hotmail.com
Thanks,
Ms Fatima.
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Anti-fraud resources:
