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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Paul Moore" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <eqs.paul.moore_chambers@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2016 05:45:31 -0800
Subject: How Are You Doing Today
Dear Partner and Friend,
I am contacting you because I have need for your urgent cooperation. I am representing a family that has given me the mandate to help find a reasonable and profitable investment structure.
They have just inherited huge fund from their predecessor, and they have agreed to invest this money in the next 5 years for more profit. I have been given authority to appoint a reliable international investor to invest this fund so I need to be sure that I can trust whoever I am presenting to the bank. I am working hand in hand with a financial expert/compliance officer who will guide us through a certified and legal process. The amount in question is £18.5 million GBP.
I want to present you as a foreign investor and authorize for the money to be moved to you in your country. I need someone I can trust and authorize to be the
beneficiary of the money, but I need to be assured on my following concerns:
Can I trust you with the fund?
Can you keep a secret?
Can you plan a good investment for the fund?
What areas of investment will you recommend?
What % share will you want to take for assisting me?
This is a very legal transaction and everything will be coordinated in black and white. The essence of secrecy cannot be underestimated because a lot of money is involved and you cannot trust anybody especially when it comes to this amount of money.
Let me know if we can work together.
Paul M
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Anti-fraud resources:
