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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Martin Atunma <atunma@gmail.com>
Reply-To: c42chief@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2015 02:53:29 -0800
Subject: private mail
Dear
This is a private transaction and I want to rely on you for the
success of the transaction., I have an opportunity that requires a
foreign partner to work with. I am Director of operations of my
institution and there is the sum of $85m that has been moved out of
the country which I would want you to conceal for me. Can you help me
to conceal it? there is no risk with this because the fund is no more
in any record and it has been moved outside the country. Just wanted
you to hide this fund for me.
Please confirm your interest, it is between you and me.
Regards
Alh. Atunma S Barau
Dir. Operations
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Anti-fraud resources:
