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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- 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.
- antonio.bruno55@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Antonio Bruno" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <antonio.bruno55@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2017 06:35:19 -0700
Subject: Urgent Attention
Dear Friend,
My name is Antonio Bruno originally from Italy. I write to contact you over a very important business transaction which will be of our interest and benefit to our both families, I have tried so many times to email you but to no avail. am seeking your co-operation to present you as the next of kin of my late client for the claim of USD$12.6 million, please kindly email me back for details if you are interested and capable. I have done enough inside bank and i will only have to program your details/information into our database here in our bank computer and reflect you as his family next of kin to benefit from this funds.
Regards,
Antonio.
antonio.bruno55@yahoo.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
