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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:
- "with absolute secrecy" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- 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.
- colabdulsaleh87@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Col Abdul Saleh <acontc@tim.it>
Reply-To: col_abdulsaleh220@outlook.com
Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2017 13:43:01 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: I WILL APPRECIATE YOUR IDEA
Dear Sir
Greetings to you
I apologize if the content of this letter are contrary to your moral ethics
but please treat with absolute secrecy and personal. My name is Conel Abdul
Saleh from Damascus,Syria.I read with interest through your website hence i
contact you,I am 52yrs old serving military soldier here in Damascus,Syria.
In the course of one of our operations i and my late operational commander
recovered the sum of usd 150.5m suspected to belonging to Syria Shell Petroleum
Development(SSPD).We arranged with our military contact and moved the funds
outside Syria for investment on ranch,livestock or real estate.
I need a trusted foreign partner with broad investment knowledge to receive the
fund and help me invest.I do not operate any foreign bank account outside Syria
hence i solicit your sincere assistance.I will appreciate your idea and
investment knowledge regarding this or any other profitable investment you may
surgest.
On my next email,i will explain to you in full detail about this investment
proposal.You may as well tell me little more about yourself and investment
experience.Feel free to ask any question for more clarification. Contact me
urgently for your good response through this my secure email address:
(colabdulsaleh87@gmail.com)
Regards
Conel Abdul Saleh
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Anti-fraud resources:
