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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:
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "milton.brace@live.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: Milton Brace <office145@lablablab.com.ua>
Reply-To: milton.brace@live.com
Date: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 23:25:16 +0000
Subject: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Greetings,
I intend to enlist your name for this payment as one of the
Beneficiaries
to be compensated of $50m from my government account, get back to me as
soon as possible for the immediate and uninterrupted payments in your
favor. Please do not not communicate or duplicate this message to
anybody
for any reason whatsoever as this is top secret. So keep it secret till
you
secure your funds.
Lastly, this funds was not made for you, rather I am positioning your
names
as the beneficiary. You are entitled to 30% of the total funds for
assisting while the balances go into investment and charity on my
behalf.
If you are ready for the deal ,kindly furnish me with the followings:
Full names:
Contact address:
Phone numbers:
Call me as you read.
Milton Brace.
Mobile +2348090886723
Email:milton.brace@live.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
