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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ray Gordon" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <raygordon@mail.com.tr>
Date: Mon, 23 May 2016 23:20:05 +0200
Subject: BENEFICIARY OF FUNDS!!
Dear Sir/Madam,Re
I am revealing this top secret information to you concerning your Late brother's fund stood at 6million Eurous.I am a messenger to a book
keeper with a bank here in Europe country and bank's name withheld for security reasons.
I over heard my boss the book keeper discussing with the accountant in the bank on how to divert your brother's fund for their own use due to
the fact that none of his relatives showed up for the claim of his fund.I will help you secure the contact details of the bank Manager
for you to contact him for more information of the claim your brother's fund.
1. Full name
2. Phone and Fax number
3.Your Office address
During my search for your late brother relatives,i find your last name to be same with his and i have to contact you and i hope that you will
not mention my name or tell the bank manager that i was the person that gave you the information also,i hope that when you get the fund
you will help me.Send me your full name,address,country and phone number if you know you can keep secret confidential.
Thank you.
Ray Gordon.
email: raygordon@mail.com.tr
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Anti-fraud resources:
