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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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr Barry White" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrbarrywhite96@live.com>
Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2015 08:20:52 -0500
Subject: Dear Friend
Dear Friend
In accordance to my religious persuasion, I felt expedient to write and inform you on the wicked conspiracy that is about to be hatched by the duo of my boss Prof. Mr Lan saines and the prime minster to divert your money to their designated account in Europe
>From my position as a lowly clerk in this office, I felt that it is important for me to alert you on this development so act fast to come over with these required documents so that you can have full access to you funds.
They are planning to use your name and contract/inheritance identification number as the beneficiary but and this is more reason why you have to act fast and acquire those certificates inorder to prevent all these from happening.
All the data about your claim profile are within my reach.
I do not need gratification from you either in cash or kind. I can never be a part of evil because the bible said YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE.
Please respect my discretion in this matter, I repeat, please do not expose my person, it is not easy to get jobs around here and I cannot contend with these powerful individuals because they can eliminate me just like that.
God bless you
Mr Barry White
mrbarrywhite96@live.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
