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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:
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: James Knight <customer055@tim.it>
Reply-To: ambassadorofunitedstates@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2017 10:17:54 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Attention: Beneficiary
Attention;
James Knight Ambassador of the United States to Benin Republic, We was on
ECOWAS on our last meeting and I was searching for some packages that left
unclaimed and found out that you have not received your package, and I asked
Mr. Frank Edward the Manager of DHL Courier Company what happened that you have
not receive your package and he said that you refused to pay the $75.00 keeping
fee.
I'm contacting you this now because Mr. Frank Edward the manager of the DHL
Courier Company here in Benin Republic he said that they will divert your
Package to the Government Treasury just because that you can not pay for their
keeping fee of your package which is $75.00 .00 only.
But I told them to wait until I hear from you today so that I will know the
reason why you rejected your $1.5M USD which will change your life just because
of $75.00 I want your urgent response as soon as you receive this email and
explain to me the reason why you have abandon your package because of $75.00.
But if you don't need it then I can change your name to another person so that
this Government will not claim this money but I know that you will love to have
it.
Please my dear I want to help you to receive this fund because it was a big
shock to me that you have not received your package since years now and I’m
very sorry for that and you will receive your package before the end of this
meeting which will take us 4days and I will be here to monitor it until you
receive your package.
I will be waiting to hear from you soonest to know your mind about this issue.
Regards
James Knight
Ambassador of the United States to Benin
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