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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.
- 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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- j.oslo@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Jimmy Oslo" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <j.oslo@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2014 14:24:37 +0100
Subject: Re: Investment Proposal
Dear
How are you doing my friend? I hope all is well with you. I know this letter will definitely come to you as a huge surprise, but I implore you to take time to go through it carefully. I have a mandate to move about £12.5milion GBP for foreign investment. I want to present you as a foreign investor and authorize for the money to be moved to you in your country. I need someone I can trust and authorize to be the beneficiary of the money, but I need to be assured on my following concerns;
Can I trust you with the fund?
Can you keep a secret?
Can you plan a good investment for the fund?
What areas of investment will you recommend?
What % share will you want to take for assisting me?
This is a very legal transaction and everything will be coordinated in under the provisions of the law. The essence of confidentiality cannot be underestimated because, a lot of money is involved, and you cannot trust anybody, especially when it comes to this amount of money.
Let me know if we can work together. I have good plans to compensate your assistance. I will really like to talk with you on the phone.
Warm regards
Mr. Jimmy Oslo
(j.oslo@hotmail.com)
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Anti-fraud resources:
