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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: "Office Contact" <Contact@suncor.com>
Reply-To: johnlimakjohn@outlook.com
Date: 18 Sep 2017 10:05:35 -0700
Subject: Investment
Hello
We of the Fidelity International Inc.,are brokering an Investment
deal on behalf of a client. This deal will
involve the eventual investment of One Hundred and Eighty Million
Dollars ($180M), from a pool of funds of over
$300M. This investment portfolio is to be carried out outside of
the (U.K) due to prevailing economic situations
and due to Briexit which currently affects our client’s local
investments.We are by this letter offering you our
partnership, so as to allow us have you as representative and
manager of invested funds in your country within the
time frame of the investment/partnership scheme.Since we can not
determine if your email is still functional and
also your willingness, we have kept this proposal brief.If you
are interested in this offer of partnership, please
respond and give us your full contact details plus company
profile and in response we will send you an elaborate
proposal and details of this offer.Your expedient response will
be appreciated.
Thank you.
Mr.john limk
For Fidelity Int’l Investments Ltd.
Tel: +1 304596653
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Anti-fraud resources:
