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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)
- "offshore account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "lome togo" (a location commonly mentioned 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 George Eric <mr.georgeeric1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Mr George Eric <mr.georgeeric@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2015 00:42:57 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Mr. George Eric
Hello,
My name is Mr. George Eric, I am a banker working in Lome Togo in West Africa. I have sent
this letter to you before now but you did not respond to it and that's why I am repeating it
again to tell you how important this proposal is to us.
I have in my possession documents covering the sum of Twenty Million Dollars in offshore
accounts.This fund was deposited by my foreign late clients.
I was the personal account manager to the beneficiary who lost his life some times ago and
fortunately I am the only person in control of his account and related document is in my
position. I want you to be my foreign partner and lets make official claim of the Twenty
Million Dollars. please get back to me for more details if you are interested to work with
me and let me have all your relevant information, This is our golden opportunity to make real huge money for our families.
Waiting for you rapid answer.
Mr. George Eric
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Anti-fraud resources:
