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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:
- "activation fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
- 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.
- fedexdeliverycompany105@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Barrister Mr.Thomas" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fedexdeliverycompany105@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2017 09:00:00 -0700
Subject: YOUR ATM CARD DELIVERY
This is to bring to your notice that I have been able to pay the
re-activation fee and the delivery of your ATM Card. I paid it because
the ATM Card worth of $2.5m USD has less than Seven days to expire
and when it expires, the money will lost to the Federal Government
treasury account . With that I decided to help you pay off the money
so that the ATM Card will not expire, because I trust that when you
receive your ATM Card definitely you must pay me back my expenditure
and even compensate me for helping you.
Now i want you to contact FEDEX Express courier with your physical
address your prefer the delivery and your phone number so that they
can deliver your Card to your designated address without any delay.
Like i stated earlier, The delivery charges has been paid but i did
not pay their official keeping fees since they refused. They refused
and the reason is that they do not know when you are going to contact
them and the demur rage might have increased.
They told me that their keeping fees is $55.00 per day as i made the
deposit yesterday, So you are advised to contact them immediately to
avoid the security keeping charge increase.
Below is their Contact Information's,
Contact Person:
Dr.Williams David.
FEDEX Express courier Email: (fedexdeliverycompany105@gmail.com)
Tel: +2349068758356
Contact them Today to avoid increase of their keeping fees and let me
know once you receive your card.
Best Regards,
Barrister Mr.Thomas
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Anti-fraud resources:
