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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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Rosina Richard <marilobouabre18@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: Rosina Richard <rosinaricha1@yahoo.fr>
Date: Sat, 10 May 2014 00:46:18 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Hello my dear,
Hello my dear,
I hope my message finds you in good health. Please let me firstly introduce myself to you. I am Miss Rosina Richard the only daughter of late Mr. and Mrs. Johnson Richard who was the general director of Adjame cocoa exportation company before his sudden death. Please I need your assistance to transfer my inheritance funds amounting USD10.5M for investment project in your country. My wicked Uncle is after my life because of this inheritance fund in the bank as result I need your immediate help to relocate the fund to your country so that I can come ove to join you to continue my education from where I stopped while you engage in investing the funds in secured and lucrative ventures of your choice.
Please if you are willing to assist me to receive this fund in your custody and carry out the investment project under your patronage kindly reply immediately for more details and guideline on how the transaction will be handled.
Yours Sincerely,
Rosina Richard.
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Anti-fraud resources:
