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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found 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: "Geert Leffer" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <geertleffer@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2017 20:13:47 -0800
Subject: HELLO
Dear Friend,
I know mail will come to you as a surprise as we have never met before. My name is Mr. Geert Leffers from Nederlands and i am 60 years old, married and blessed with two lovely kids. I am a banker working with Rabo Bank here in Den Haag, Holland. I got you contact from a certain international database and decided to contact you for a huge financial deal that will benefit us mutually. It might interest you to know that this deal involves $27.3 million and is ready to be transferred within seven working day. Kindly reply as soon as possible if you are interested in receiving this money in your personal or company's account so I will forward the details and my ID to you .
Your urgent response will be well appreciated.
Best Regards
Geert Leffer
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Anti-fraud resources:
