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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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)
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- "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)
- 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.
- mr.raymond.a@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Raymond Ani Esq" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mr.raymond.a@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2016 07:42:07 -0000
Subject: Your Private Message
Dear Friend,
In a brief introduction, my name is Raymond Ani from West Africa, I’m a lawyer by profession. I need your co-operation to receive an unclaimed fund worth the sum of $15 million dollars for our mutual benefit. This huge amount of money was deposited in the bank by my client who died in my country with his family in the year 2005. This however is not mandatory nor will I in any manner compel you to honor against your wish, but I strongly believe that this endeavor will open doors for unimaginable financial rewards for us at the end. However, I will explain in more details when I hear from you indicating your interest by replying with your contact details as mentioned below.
Your full name:
Your phone number:
Your country code:
I await your reply (mr.raymond.a@hotmail.com) and acceptance to guide you on the way forward.
Raymond Ani Esq.
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Anti-fraud resources:
