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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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "James Mambo" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jam.mambo015@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Sun, 17 May 2015 14:28:32 -0700
Subject: Letter Of Intent
Dear Partner,
I am contacting you in good faith believing that you will be of assistance in this transaction. I do not want you to view the content of this message as one of those that has nothing to offer. This message contains therein is true and confirmable hence I decided to solicit for your assistance to entrust a huge amount of fund valued US$85million dollars that belongs to the family of my late client , Muammar al-Gaddafi the Former president of Libya.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22745618
After his death almost all his family members was arrested while others has been on the run. The fund in question was deposited in an escrow account with one of a private security firm in Europe and South Africa and nobody apart from I and my late client knows or have access to the fund whence I decided to channel it to somewhere else as to entrust and invest the fund in a neutral ground with an honest investor and partner who can sincerely work with me to actualize this deal. No single risk is involved. The sharing modalities for this fund at the end of the deal will be discuss and agreed by both of us prior to the start of the deal. If this is ok by you please get back to me with your complete information as to start this process without delay and do not forget to intimate me on the areas of investment you may consider profitable in your country. Feel free to ask me any question you may deem necessary.
Best Regards
Mr. James Mambo
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Anti-fraud resources:
