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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:
- ",000,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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: Miguel Wayne <miguelwayne999@gmail.com>
Reply-To: miguelwayne08@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 10:49:47 +0000
Subject: Good day
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Dearest Friend
This is a follow up to the first mail sent to you in relation to the estate
of a late client. I wish to notify you that you were listed as a
beneficiary to the total sum of sum of 8,000,000.00(Eight million USD )in
the codicil and last testament of the deceased. Until his death he was a
major share holder in big companies which include textile and
construction's here in Europe and Asia, this mail is borne more out of my
intentions to ensure that a dead man's wish is fulfilled.
He was a very great man during his life time.He died on 9th January 2011 at
the age of 68. Even though he was a foreigner living and working here, he
requested before his death that he be buried in the country he has come to
adopt as his own. He had a very popular quote "I regard here as My home and
the people as my people for the whole world is nothing
but one big village".
We therefore reckoned that you can receive this funds as you are qualified
by your name identity. All the legal papers will be processed on your
response. If you are capable of forging ahead with this, we request that
you kindly notify us immediately to enable us know what possible line of
action we will undertake.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Miguel Wayne
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Anti-fraud resources:
