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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:
- "million dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mrs Pamela Jones <rappytennis@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: Mrs Pamela Jones <pamelaj1212@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2014 08:04:16 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Fra fru Pamela Jones.
Fra fru Pamela Jones.
Mitt navn er fru Pamela Jones fra Elfenbenskysten. Jeg er en syk kvinne som har bestemt seg for å donere det jeg har til veldedighet gjennom deg. Du lurer kanskje på hvorfor jeg valgte deg. Men noen må velges. Jeg er 65 år gammel og ble diagnostisert for kreft ca 2 år siden, jeg arvet en total sum av $ 8.000.000 dollar fra min avdøde mann, disse pengene avsatt i et av de viktigste bankene her i landet.
Jeg arvet sa penger fra min avdøde mann som var en administrerende direktør med oljeselskapet Shell her til hans dato.
Det vil glede meg hvis du godtar dette forslaget og svare på meg så snart som mulig.
Hilsen fru Pamela Jones.
From Mrs. Pamela Jones.
My name is Mrs. Pamela Jones from Ivory Coast. I am a sick woman who has decided to donate what I have to charity through you. You may be wondering why I chose you. But someone has to be chosen. I am 65 years old and was diagnosed for cancer about 2 years ago; I inherited a total sum of $8 million dollars from my late husband, this money deposited in one of the prime banks here in the country.
I inherited the said money from my late husband who was a managing director with Shell oil company here till his date.
It will please me if you accept this proposal and respond to me as soon as possible.
Yours Mrs. Pamela Jones.
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Anti-fraud resources:
