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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:
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a orphan scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "David Charles" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <enprrolos@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2016 23:24:17 +0800
Subject: Call for Investing in your Country
Dear, My name is David Charles the son of late Mr.Ayo Charles from Abidjan,
Cote d'Ivoire I am contacting you to be my partner in investment in good
projects in your country under your management and control.
My late father deposited this fund in the bank before he Died on the 2011
with my mother in presidential election in our country.
This money is still with the bank i want you to help me to get this fund
transfer to your account while i continue my education which stopped due to
the death of my father. I am presently in the refugee camp here being taken
care of after the war in my country.
Due to my age, I cannot invest this money by myself because i have no
investment experience and my age.
Please if you are interested get back to me and i will send to you a more
detailed explanation.
Yours beloved,
David Charles
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Anti-fraud resources:
