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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:
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "keep this confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Judy Mcafee" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrsjudymcafee0101@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2018 11:36:09 -0400
Subject: HELLO
My dear beloved Friend,
My name is Mrs. Judy Mcafee from United Kingdom and i was married to late Dr. Harry R. Mcafee who worked with an oil company in Spain before he died in a car accident on his way back home from work. My husband and i did not have any children and i'm 72 Years old. When my late husband was alive he had a fixed deposit of € 6,500,000.00 ( Six million five hundred thousand Euro ) with a Bank.
Presently this money is still with the bank and the bank management just wrote me as the beneficiary to come and claim the money or rather issue a letter of authority to someone to receive the money on my behalf. I am presently in the hospital where I have been undergoing treatment for cancer of the lungs. I have since lost my ability to talk and my personal doctor have informed me that I have just few months to live, so I think the best thing to do is to use the money for charity purposes. I want a person who is trustworthy that I will make the new beneficiary to my late husband's funds in the bank so that he/she can get the money and utilize 70% of this money to fund churches, orphanages and widows around the world.
As soon as I receive your reply I will give you the contact details of the Bank. I will also issue you a letter of authority that will prove you as the new beneficiary of this fund. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated here in and please keep this confidential till this funds get to your custody. This is to ensure that nothing jeopardizes my last wish on Earth.
I await your urgent reply. Email:
Regards,
Mrs. Judy Mcafee
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Anti-fraud resources:
