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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- 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.
- +447042035673 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Don Eric" <investment1991a@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrdoneric@rocketmail.com
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2015 16:58:10 +0500
Subject: From Mr. Don Eric
Dear Friend,
My name is Mr. Don Eric. I work as the operational manager in account
management section in charge of credit and foreign bills of one of the
prime banks here in London. It is my wish to solicit your assistance in
claim of Forty eight million two hundred and twenty three thousand POUNDS
STERLING which is belonging to our late customer who was a gold
merchant.This will be of great benefit to both of us and I cannot achieve
this without your support, therefore I need your cooperation to claim this
fund from my bank after which you will be eligible for 50% of the fund,
while 50% will be mine. I will provide the necessary information and
documents needed in order to claim this money.
Please get back to me if you are interested for more
information, kindly email me
Sincerely,
Mr. Don Eric.
Mobil: +447042035673
+447562604475
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Anti-fraud resources:
