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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "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)
- "diplomatic immunity" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- 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.
- mike.heim@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Federal Bureau of Investigation Washington DC" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mike.heim@aol.com>
Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 02:23:47 -0800
Subject: UPDATE MESSAGE FROM F.B.I
FBI Headquarters
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20535-0001 [
This is to notify you that huge funds valued at 8.3million Dollars have been
transferred into your account. This transfer was stopped today by the Federal
Bureau of Investigations (FBI) because our verification showed that you do not
possess the Diplomatic Immunity Seal of Transfer (DIST) to show that this fund
is legit and rightly belongs to you.
Do reply to this e-mail so we can direct you accordingly where you will obtain
this legal wiring document to fully authorize the crediting of your fund into
your main account.
FBI Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division
Special Agent, Michael J. Heimbach
e-mail:mike.heim@aol.com
FBI's Washington Field Office
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Anti-fraud resources:
