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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: Aisha Gaddafi <ajohn1102@gmail.com>
Reply-To: aishagaddafi01@rediffmail.com
Date: Sat, 6 Jul 2013 14:43:17 +0100 (BST)
Subject: HELLO
Dear Friend
I am writing this mail with tears and sorrow from my heart I am Aisha Gaddafi the Daughter of former leader of Libya government Muhammad Gaddafi asking for your help at this time. I got your contact in my desperate for a trustworthy person who will understand my present conditions and you will be blessed, all my family presently has been granted political Asylum in Sultanate of Oman as we have left Algeria because of security reasons
All our Foreign and local accounts have been blocked by the western countries and we are not allowed to make transfer or receive money from any country or source. and even the Oman authority does not allow us with transfer of any kind
Now there is a particular fund ($12million USD) deposited by my brother late Khamis Gaddafi abroad. If you can be of any assistant to me kindly get back to me, I can furnish you with the company and the deposit details so that you can contact them and they will transfer the money into your account as the new beneficiary. I am willing to reward you bountiful with 25% of the total amount and you share the 75% to charity homes.
I'm happy peace has been restored in Libya; I pray one day I will travel back to my country.
Please I cannot talk to you on phone because all telephone conversion are monitored.
Therefore, keep this offers safe, secret and confidential .Await your reply via Email.
Warmest Regards,
Aisha Gaddafi
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Anti-fraud resources:
