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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 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.
- 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.
- is.melchi@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Mr Isaac Melchi <is.melchi@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2015 08:48:27 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Please read this
 GOOD DAY
I am Mr. Melchi Isaac, a regional managing director of a bank,I am indeed glad to be in contact with you even though this medium of communication (internet) has been grossly abused by criminal minded people making it difficult for people with genuine intention struggle to correspond and exchange views without skepticism.Â
I have decided to contact you through this medium based on a business proposal which will be of mutual benefit to both of us.Â
During the annual bank auditing, we discovered an account with the total sum of FORTY MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS ONLY This account belong to Mr. Wang Yu and Mr. Xie Zhenfeng of China and Taiwan citizen who lost their lives on June 03 2012 If you are interested to use this fund to help the orphans around the world, contact me with my private email address at is.melchi@yahoo.com and send your personal information for more details: Your full names................ Your country of origin................ Your occupation.............. Your Age....................... Your Mobile Number°......................Â
Best Regards Mr. Melchi Isaac My number is +229 96962634
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Anti-fraud resources:
