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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:
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Rachel E. Dean" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <racheldean655@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Fri, 20 May 2016 16:53:24 -0700
Subject: Clear Your Package With The Courier services!!!
Attention Bonafide Recipient.
This is an official message from the courier services in Cotonou Republic of Benin. We have your package dropped since last six weeks by rev. Victor Akagwu who abandoned this package here for a trip to Vatican city in Italy.
We have made several attempts to have you clear your package containing a Bank Draft worth of US$2.5M not until rev. Victor Akagwu called us from Vatican and gave us you email, that is why we are contacting you to clear your package
Contact us with your final delivery address and have your package in less than 48 hours. Required delivery details is as below:
Your Full Names
Address
Phone
Awaiting your immediate cooperation.
Mrs. Rachel Dean
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Anti-fraud resources:
