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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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Sabina Akwesi." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <goldbrown2015@outlook.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 22:10:23 -0800
Subject: Attention
Attn: Sir/Ma,
Welcome to the year 2015. How are you doing my dear? I know this mail will come to you as a surprise, but be glad because it is for good. My name is Miss. Gold Brown, a Financial Consultant. I need your advice or assistance if you can be trusted. I have a client that has some huge amount of money somewhere around the world. And she wants me to get her a trusted and honest foreigner she can entrust the money into his or her hands for proper investment.
Presently I don't have any foreigner I can entrust the money into his or her hands for the investment as she has proposed. I am taking my time to think and look for a trusted person that will not disappoint or betray me along the line. Please do you have any advice for her?. I wait to read from you.
Thanks
Miss. Gold Brown
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Anti-fraud resources:
