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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:
- "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)
- "waiting for your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Wemah Desire <wemahdesire@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Wemah Desire <wemahdesire@ymail.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2015 02:21:00 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Dear sir,
Dear sir,
I am Miss. Wemah Tagro the daughter of Mr. Desire Tagro the former Minister of Interior with the former President Mr. Laurent Gbagbo.
My Father died mysteriously after he was arrested with the former president at the presidential Villa on the 11/04/2011.
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After the fall of the former regime many of the people that worked with the former president was arrested and are been kept in unknown location until now. My father did not make it as they killed him and until now have not given any reason or what actually happened to him. With news of the death of my father my mother’s health has never been the same as she was in hospital since then for heart related problems.
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My purpose of contacting you is for an assistance to claim the sum of $9.5 million dollars is a private save keeping firm in Europe. My mother informed me about the said sum after the death of my father and has given me the document of the deposit which has my name on it as the next of kin. She has instructed me to look for someone overseas who can help me and my two younger brothers to reclaim and move the save that contains the money into safety.
I want to present you as my foreign partner and guardian to the company where the save that contains the funds are in Europe for you to proceed with the arrangements of claiming and securing the funds in your country until we can be able to join you for investment.
I am ready to offer you 25% of the money for your assistance in helping us secure the money. Please if you can be able to handle this for us, kindly get back to me immediately via email for more information and contacts of the company in Europe for you to proceed immediately.
I am waiting for your urgent response.
Thanks and God bless you.
Miss Wemah Desire
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