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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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: AMBASSADOR JAMES KNIGHT <missmireille33@gmail.com>
Reply-To: AMBASSADOR JAMES KNIGHT <jamesknight241@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2015 23:04:39 +0900 (JST)
Subject: ATTN: DEAR
ATTN: DEAR
AFTER AN OFFICIAL MEETING HELD WITH THE PRESIDENT OF BENIN AND
MINISTER OF FINANCE CONCERNING UNPAID AND UNCLAIMED INHERITANCE FUNDS
TO FOREIGN, JUST LIKE YOU, I WAS VERY MUCH ANNOYED WHEN I
FOUND OUT THAT YOU PAID MUCH MONEY YET YOU NEVER RECEIVE YOUR FUNDS AND
THAT IS WHY I DECIDED TO HELP YOU.
I SHALL BE COMING TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR AN OFFICIAL MEETING AND I WILL BE
BRINGING YOUR FUNDS OF $15.8 MILLION ALONG WITH ME THROUGH UNITED
STATES DIPLOMATIC MISSION TO YOUR COUNTRY.BUT THIS TIME I WILL NOT GO
THROUGH CUSTOMS BECAUSE AS AN USA AMBASSADOR TO BENIN, I AM A USA
GOVERNMENT AGENT AND I HAVE THE VETO POWER TO GO THROUGH CUSTOMS.JUST
LIKE I HELPED FOUR PERSONS ON MY LAST YEAR VISIT TO AFRICA TO RECEIVED
THEIR FUNDS THAT YEAR 2014/2015 THROUGH DHL COURIER SERVICE AND
TNT
COURIER SERVICE.
TO PROVE YOU THE TRUE,YOU SHOULD TRACK THE BELOW TRACKING NUMBERS AND
SEE IT YOURSELF:AND AS SOON AS I AM THROUGH WITH THE MEETING I SHALL
THEN PROCEED TO YOUR HOME
1.TRACKING NO: 4133367523
YOUR INFORMATION MUST BE SEND FOR US FOR YOUR DELIVERING.
YOUR HOME ADDRESS
YOUR SELF PHONE NUMBER
YOUR FULL NAME
AMBASSADOR JAMES KNIGHT
Contact +229 688 08 991
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Anti-fraud resources:
