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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:
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- maxlopez_01@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Max Lopez" <maxlopez75@yahoo.es>
Reply-To: maxlopez_01@aol.com
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2015 22:33:47 -0000
Subject: Urgent Proposal
Dear, Sir/Madam
I am contacting you based on trust, honest and confidentiality that you
will keep this as top secret and if interested should write to me. I know
it will take you by surprise to receive this information because mails
like this flies over the internet telling people about funds and most are
not genuine.
My mail is genuine and different. There is unclaimed cash & money of our
late customer who died on German wings plane crashes in France Tuesday 24
March 2015; Airbus A320 no availability of next of kin and the money is
unclaimed and free for claiming.
You should read on this link to understand it:
www.dw.de/leading-german...plane-crash/a-18347927
The money is being held under a non-investment account. If you are
interested you will stand as the next of kin to my late client whose
account is presently dormant and I will present you as the next of kin to
claim the fund before the expire limited time
I am assuring you of this transaction is 100% risk free and legitimate
project. I will explain to you in more details when I hear from you. If
you are interested you should indicate your interest by sending your
information on this Email: maxlopez_01@aol.com
Name:
Age:
Contact address:
Occupation:
Phone number:
Country of Origin:
Expecting your early reply
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Anti-fraud resources:
