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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:
- "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Andrea Ronald <dan.kerry123@outlook.com>
Reply-To: <andrearonald0100@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 16:46:49 +0000
Subject: Kindly view memo
Hello,
My name is Andrea Ronald. I work with one of the leading Banks here in London, UK. I would need your consent to present you as the next of kin to our late customer who died of heart attack in 2005. He was a wealthy business man who deposited a huge amount in our Bank. He was long divorced and had no child.
He died without any registered next of kin and as such the funds now have an open beneficiary mandate. And the banking ethics here does not allow such money to stay more than ten years,because the money will be recalled to the bank treasury as unclaimed bill after this period.
I was his account officer and have in my possession all the documents required to present you as his beneficiary next of kin. I contacted you because you have same name identity with our late client and can perfectly fit in as next of kin, We can work together to claim this fund.
On your confirmation of this message and indicating your interest, I will furnish you with more information. Please endeavor to provide me with your full details.
I urgently hope to get your response as soon as possible.
Thank'sAndrea
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Anti-fraud resources:
