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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:
- "with absolute secrecy" (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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Conel Abdul Saleh" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <col.abdulsaleh1@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2018 14:49:00 -0000
Subject: Good Day.
Greetings to you Dear,
I apologize if the content of this letter are contrary to your moral
ethics but please treat with absolute secrecy and personal. My name is
Conel Abdul Saleh from Damascus, Syria.I read with interest through
your website hence i contact you, I am 52yrs old serving military
soldier here in Damascus, Syria.In the course of one of our operations
i and my late operational commander recovered the sum of USD75 million
suspected to belonging to Syria Shell Petroleum Development (SSPD).
We arranged with our military contact and moved the funds outside
Syria for investment on ranch, livestock or real estate. The fund is
in a vault of a
security finance company in United Kingdom. I need a trusted foreign
partner with broad investment knowledge to receive the fund and help
me invest. I do not operate any foreign bank account outside Syria
hence i solicit your sincere assistance.
I will appreciate your idea and investment knowledge regarding this or
any other profitable investment you may surgest. On my next email i
will explain to you in full detail about this investment proposal. You
may as well tell me little more about yourself.
Thanks for your time.
Regards
Conel Abdul Saleh
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Anti-fraud resources:
