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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:
- "million dollars" (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.
Fraud email example:
From: "international.M.F.66@usa.com" <myoffice@tim.it>
Reply-To: international.M.F.66@usa.com
Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2017 12:18:23 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Did you authorized Mrs. Sandra
International M Fund&
Internal Affairs Department
NOTIFICATION OF CREDIT FROM SUN TRUST BANK MARYLAND .
Did you authorized Mrs. Sandra From Georgia to come and claim your fund worth
of 1.5 million Dollars on your behalf? if no kindly follow the instruction
below
YOU MUST FILL THE FORM AND SEND IT BACK TO US IMMEDIATELY TO ENABLE US OPEN
THE ONLINE ACCOUNT IMMEDIATELY.
FIRST NAME:................
SURNAME:..................
OCCUPATION:.................
AGE:.....................
DATE OF BIRTH:....................
MARITAL STATUS:.....................
PHONE NUM:.............................
NATIONALITY:......................
PRESENT COMPANY NAME:................
CITY/STATE/PROVINCE:................
NEXT OF KIN:........................
IMMEDIATELY WE RECEIVE THE ABOVE INFORMATION WE WILL PROCEED IMMEDIATELY
WITHOUT ANY DALEY.
LOOKING FORWARD TO SERVING YOU BETTER.
Yours in Service,
Chief Financial Officer,
International M Fund
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Anti-fraud resources:
