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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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)
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- This email message is a "New Partner from Paraguay" scam.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- dhloffice121@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "HON.JOHN MICHAEL" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <dhloffice121@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2016 15:59:27 -0700
Subject: Dear friend
Dear friend,
I am very happy to inform you about my success in getting that fund transferred to a Swiss account. I did not forget your past effort to assist me despite the fact that it failed us somehow so I kept some amount for you in my own appreciation for your compensation.
Now I want you to contact my secretary on this information below as I set out for a 2 months trip to Dubai:
NAME: Mr Donald Oscar
EMAIL: (dhloffice121@yahoo.com)
Contact him and ask him to send you the total sum of $2.5million in a certified international bank draft issued from UBS AG, Switzerland, which I have kept for your compensation.
So contact him immediately on his- Email: (dhloffice121@yahoo.com) and send him the below information to enable him dispatch your bank draft to you through UPS or DHL Courier service and give you the tracking number.
1. YOUR FULL NAME:
2. YOUR ADDRESS:
3. TELEPHONE NUMBER:
Best regards,
HON.JOHN MICHAEL.
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Anti-fraud resources:
