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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:
- "% commission" (Beware of any scheme that involves depositing checks or money orders or receiving wire transfers in your bank account and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere, for a percentage of 5-15% of the total. Such offers are *always* fraudulent and you will be liable for the entire amount when the checks, money orders or wire transfers turn out to be fraudulent. Any money already forwarded comes out of *your* pocket then. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Zhao Shaodong" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <richzoltan15@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2017 15:44:59 +0700
Subject: BE OUR ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE AGENT
Greetings to you,
I am a consultant to a reputable big size company in China who is commencing making an in-road / rapid expansion into the North America continent whereby they are already in the process of setting up offices in the United States,Canada and Germany Before the ongoing process is completed, we would like to offer you the opportunity to use your services as our Account Receivable Agent (ARA) in the United States and Canada.Your primary responsibility will be for collection of all our account receivables on our behalf from our customers in your country as well as been our funds manager. Although this may not be your area of expertise but I know that your eligibility to help our company fulfill its major goal is not in doubt, this is why I am reaching out to you.
You are entitled to 5% commission on all receivables transactions and also a monthly salary payment. You are to make direct contact with me as the international business consultant /recruiter to the Chinese Company.please do specify your country of origin for further details.
Sincerely,
Zhao shaodong
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Anti-fraud resources:
