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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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Dong Xinfeng <fenisleri@selcuk.bel.tr>
Reply-To: <dxinfeng.china@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2016 07:30:07 +0000
Subject: Re: FINANCIAL PROJECT.
Dear friend,
I am sincerely sorry badging into your privacy in this manner, its due to me being overzealous in financial matters. Please i would need your financial expertise in handling this situation. The company i work for as a financial accountant and secretary is going bankrupt and is at the verge of folding up. I am in dire need of your assistance in securing and moving $35MUSD out from our company account here in China and into your local account for possible future investment. Feel free to reply back if you have any interested in a partnership, there is no need to criticise me without having complete knowledge of what this is all about.
Regards,
Ms. Dong Xinfeng
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Anti-fraud resources:
