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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: First Hope <reception@fresh-air.net>
Reply-To: <first.hope90@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2017 12:57:12 -0700
Subject: Your Payment Released
Hello,
Some time ago, someone contacted you that he want to transfer some money into your account. You opened communication with him after some time, you cut off when you were asked to pay certain amount of money to facilitate he transfer.
That transaction is real. It is not a scam.
Your name has continued to appear in the database of the external debtors in the head office of the West Africa Banking Union and they want to pay you only $500,000 no matter the amount you are owed. We have been appointed as a consultant to liaise with you in re-processing the payment.
Once you re-confirm your name and address today, we will process and move your file to the bank who will raise an International Bank Draft in your name within 24 working hours. Please indicate if you will come to pick the Bank Draft from the bank or they should post it to you.
Waiting for your reply.
Philip Duncan
CEO
First Hope Consultancy Inc.
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Anti-fraud resources:
