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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:
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447045767766 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "Simone Turner" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <s_turner3000@outlook.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2018 01:10:45 -0700
Subject: From: Mr Simone.
I am Mr Simone Turner a British citizen,I seek your consent to present you as the Beneficiary to a dormant account with holding records in
a British Bank.
I have all secret details and necessary contacts for claim of the funds which i will disclose to you on your interest to claim this fund with
me.will investing my own share in a profitable business in your country or partner with you
in your own business. Hope to read from you.
Regards,
Mr Simone Turner.
+447 0457 67766
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Anti-fraud resources:
