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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)
- "cotonou" (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.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- mrgeraldn@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.Gerald Nebo" <s1625497@rug.nl>
Reply-To: mrgeraldn@aol.com
Date: Tue, 01 Dec 2015 05:58:27 +0100
Subject: THANKS FOR YOUR ACCEPTANCE
Dear friend, Iam Mr.Gerald Nebo a banker, and an account officer to late Mr=
.PHILIP SANDHOFF who died with his entire family in the ill-fated plane cra=
sh involving a UTA Boeing 727 Chartered Flight that took off from Cotonou B=
enin Republic and crashed into Atlantic Ocean on Thursday 25th December 200=
3. For further details of the Plane Crash,Please Visit http://news.bbc.co.u=
k/2/hi/africa/3348109.stm Further investigations. He was an Importer of Tex=
tiles and Automobiles for the past Thirteen years,and made a numbered time =
(Fixed) Deposit for twelve calendar months,valued at Seventy Million United=
States Dollars (US$70M). I need your assistance to transfer to your countr=
y the money he left in our bank valued US$70M before his death. REPLY BACK =
ONLY THROUGH THESE mrgeraldn@aol.com ONLY FOR MORE DETAILS: If interested p=
rovide the following information to the above email. YOUR FULL NAME YOUR AD=
DRESS YOUR STATE OF ORIGIN YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER YOUR OCCUPATION Thanks, M=
r.Gerald Nebo Fidelity Bank Plc
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Anti-fraud resources:
