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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 us 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)
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Rasha Azmeh" <rasha@rasha.com>
Reply-To: ra888444@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2016 02:08:48 +0800
Subject: Re: Asset Management
Greetings,
My name is Mrs. Rasha Azmeh an Oil & Gas Merchant from Syria. I'm currently trapped in Ar-Raqqah City in Syria due to the war in my country, I inherited a total sum of $6.5 Million US Dollars from my late husband. At the earlier stage of the crises in my Country we concealed the $6.5 million dollars into a safe deposit box and move the safe deposit box to a Security/Vault Company in Europe and Deposit the Asset.
The deposit is ready for reclaim but due to the situation in my country I can't travel out or even bring the funds to my country for security and safety reasons. I'm seeking your assistant to claim the asset on my behalf as my trustee beneficiary, Invest and Manage the funds for a period of 5 or 6yrs pending when the crises is over in my Country.
If you agree to partner with me I am willing to give you 20% for your time and effort. Should you prefer I re-contact you with more information's, you can send me your:
Full Names:
Address:
Occupation:
I await your quick response to this mail.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Rasha Azmeh
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Anti-fraud resources:
