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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:
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- grantclaimcommitee@usa.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: grantclaimcommite@usa.com
Reply-To: grantclaimcommitee@usa.com
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2017 06:06:40 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION BENEFICIARY (GRANT POLICY COMMITTEE)
This is to inform you that you have been selected among the lucky citizen that are qualify to apply for grant worth a sum of $3,000,000.00 USD
from the Grants Policy Committee (GPC) held in the UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA.
The selection process was carried out through random selection in our
computerized email selection system (ESS) from a database of over
1,000,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world
which you were selected.
To begin the processing of your grant you are to contact our grant
claims department for more information as regards procedures to the
claim of your grant
Name: Mr. CLAYTON WEAVER
Email: grantclaimcommitee@usa.com
You are also advised to provide him with the under listed information
as soon as possible:
Full name........................
Full Home Address................
Male/Female......................
State..........................
City...........................
Zipcode.........................
Your Age.........................
Married/Single...................
Pager Number/Text Phone..........
E-mail...........................
Hearing or Deaf..................
Monthly income...................
Do you have a car................
What do you do for living.................
Do you Own a house or Rent Appt................
Do you want cash or Check......................
Tom Cooley
Chairman of the Grants Policy Committee (GPC)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Anti-fraud resources:
