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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:
- "required fee " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Bobby Nelson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <nelsonbobby38@yahoo.es>
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2014 17:57:57 +0100
Subject: Urgent News ??
Hello Sir, My Name is Bobby Nelson , I understand you are expecting your delayed fund to be wired to you but the people like REV MORGAN BRIGGS, and others handling your transfer are not ready and will not tell you the truth about the where about of your fund and all they are doing is to tell me to divert the fund to somewhere in Seocho-Gu, Seoul, Korea because they feel you refused to come up with the required fee but I will not do that based on my conscience and that is why I have contacted you to let know because i know you have gone far in trying to get this fund.
I will be ready to help you get your fund but you have to help me keep a secret to enable me help you in getting you in delivering your fund as the Remittance officer. You better believe me or forget contacting me again but I know that they will never tell you the truth.Get back to me and i will tell you the possible way to get your fund delivered to you without the consent of anyone because i know you will reward me after all.
i have more information for you.
I will expect your prompt response.
Regards.
Bobby Nelson
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Anti-fraud resources:
