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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:
- "very confidential" (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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs Mary Patrick" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrs.mpatrick@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2015 16:17:06 +0100
Subject: Please respond
Greetings
My name is Mrs. Mary Patrick, I am an account auditor with the Pan African Bank (Eco Bank Plc)
Please I do not want you to doubt this email. I have just discovered an amount and account worth
USD$14.7million abandoned by a dead top Oil tycoon with major shares with Texaco
Oil Company, a citizen of your country, same last name and probably you are related.
I have kept a close watch on these funds for six (6) months and still no relative has come to
claim it. I am ready to release details on the account and more information on deceased that you
can work with to apply for the transfer of this sum as Next of Kin and beneficiary into
your account. I assure you this business is 100% risk free and only requires you keep this
transaction very confidential and my name of the grid to avoid suspicions.
I wait your email response.
Mrs. Mary Patrick
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Anti-fraud resources:
