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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- louismoshaver@accountant.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: MR Louis Moshaver <abottanthona120@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: MR Louis Moshaver <louismoshaver@accountant.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2018 10:53:08 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: From Moshaver
8-10-2018
Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is Mr.Louis Moshaver from Warsaw Poland, I am representing an investor from Republic of Iran with the mandate to URGENTLY help find a dependable international trustee to channel the investment fund of Euro18, 000,000.00 Eighteen Million Euro into 10 years profitable project that will target a reasonable return on investment (ROI) with a strong plan to compensate your assistance.
THIS IS DUE TO THE RECENT RESTORATION OF SANCTION ON THE REPUBLIC IRAN.
10% from the total investment amount has been allocated for compensation. Kindly let me know if you are interested to proceed and what area of investment you would recommend.
If you are interested to partner I will immediately release to you all the relevant information.
Contact: Email louismoshaver@accountant.com
Thank you as I await your swift response.
Mr.Louis Moshaver
Warsaw Poland
8-10-2018
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Anti-fraud resources:
