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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)
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Martha Eliane Johnson" <mrsjohnsonmartha@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrseliane.martha@barid.com
Date: Thu, 21 May 2015 16:49:22 +0100
Subject: Greetings To You and your Family;
Greetings To You and your Family;
My name is Mrs Martha Eliane Johnson from United State of America,i'm
65 years old and i'm very sick and diagnosed for cancer about 2 years
ago,Right now my doctor has informed me that I may not live for more
than two months and i have decided to donate what i have to charity
through you. You may be wondering why I chose you,But I selected you
after I prayed over it. I inherited a total sum of $15 million dollars
from my late husband.The fund is deposited with ECORE Bank here in
America. My late husband was very rich man and I inherited all his
wealth after his death.
So I decided to divide part of this wealth to contribute to the
development of the orphanage homes and less privileges in America and
other part of the world. I am willing to donate the sum of $5 million
dollars to you for the less privileges and orphanage homes in your
country. if your interested get back to me and i will give you the
bank information and in-trust them to transfer the fund into your
private account after you met the requirements
My regards
Mrs Martha Eliane Johnson
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Anti-fraud resources:
