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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:
- "may come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "liberia" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: "Patrick Nelson Esq" <pat100.nelson@gmail.com>
Reply-To: patricknelson004@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2014 12:03:53 -0500
Subject: I KNOW YOU CAN HANDLE THIS OFFER :
Dear Sir,
Compliments of the day. Forgive my indignation if this message may come to
you as a surprise and if it might offend you without your prior consent
and writing through this medium.
I am Patrick Nelson Esq. I have a client who wants to invest in your
Country with the sum of US$18.2M. My client was a former STATE GOVERNOR in
Liberia here and needs protection for his family.
If you can handle such a huge sum for investment into a profitable with
low risk business, please get back to me as soon as possible for further
briefing, on the investment plan and agreement procedure. Kindly reply to
the below email adds with your business profile to enable us advise our
Client accordingly, and do not forget to include your telephone contacts
for easy communication.
Yours In Service.
Mr.Patrick Nelson Esq
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Anti-fraud resources:
