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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million dollars" (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 next of kin scam.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- jkenzol@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: john kenzol <johnkenzol58@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2014 17:38:03 +0000
Subject: John...
Dear Friend,
I am Mr. John Kenzol, working with one of the prime bank here in
Accra-Ghana, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to our
bank deceased customer in order to remit the sum of (14.5 million dollars)
to your oversea account based on percentage.
(1) Can you handle this project?
(2) Can I give you this trust?
(3) What will be your commission?
I expect your urgent response only if you can handle this project. for more
info contact via email; jkenzol@yahoo.com
Thank you for your attention.
Mr. John.
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Anti-fraud resources:
