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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:
- "clearance certificate" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "clearance certificate" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Christopher Wray <WWW.@coast.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: Christopher Wray <officefilefbi003@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2018 15:30:40 +0900 (JST)
Subject: FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVETIGATION (FBI)
Attention.
This is Christopher Wray. This is final warning you are going to receive from me do you get me? I hope you
understand how many times this message has send to you. We have warned you so many times and you have decided to ignore our
emails or because you believe we have not been instructed to get you arrested and today if you fail to respond back to us
then we would first send a letter to the mayor of the city where you reside and direct them to close your bank account until
you have been jailed all your properties will be confiscated by the FBI. We find out that your receive a fake Atm card from
United Bank for Africa USA and we want you to stop contacting those people your fund is now with us and what you need to do
is to send $300 dollar down to the Benin Republic where the fund is coming from so that they get you a clearance certificate
from High Court Benin... you have 48 hours to comply with us now.
Thanks as i wait for your response
Respectively
Agent
Christopher Wray
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Anti-fraud resources:
