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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 united states 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: linkedup724@gmail.com
Reply-To: vifrank1968@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2015 09:05:01 -0700
Subject: In Regards To Funds Eligible to you /Response needed
Today of the day : Humble Beneficary
I am a representative of the Central Intelligence Agency and i have been instructed by the Head Of the CIA to contact you regarding your funds which has been estimated to the sum of 10.5 million united states dollars which is eligible to you, We have confirmation that you have been contacted once by some impersonators Informing you of this said payment. kindly let us know if you authorized anyone to claim your funds as we have been able to arrest the impostor who tried to divert your funds and we will be charging him to court and we need you to stand as a witness in the court and also regarding your funds the Bank of America has been able to safe guard your funds and when ever you want your funds i strongly advise you to contact them right away.
Please re-confirm the below details
FULL NAME/DIRECT NUMBER /OCCUPATION
Ensure you respond to this email right away
Regards
Vickie Frank
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Anti-fraud resources:
