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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:
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Jana Markova" <info@Markova.com>
Reply-To: mrsjanamarkova62@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2019 15:32:28 +0800
Subject: Attn:
Attn: Dearest Beloved,
May God bless you as you read. I am Mrs. Jana Markova, suffering from
cancerous ailment. I am indeed sorry for contacting you through this
means. However, I assure you that it is confidential and genuine.
I was married to Mr. Ryan Markova, my husband worked with Chevron/Texaco
in Kuwait for twenty years before he died in the year 2013 during the
Spain Train Crash in Santiago De July 24 which took him away from me.
My late husband deposited the sum of $17.5 Million (Seventeen Million Five
Hundred Thousand Dollars) with a Bank in Turkey. I want you to take 40
percent of the total money for your personal use while 60% of the money
will go to charity" people in the street and helping the orphanage.
Recently, I am currently in India for the past two months undergoing
treatment and my Doctor told me that I have limited days to live due to
the stroke and cancerous problems have been suffering from.I have decided
to donate this funds to charity Home through you and want you to use my
husbands effort to fund the upkeep of widows and charities worldwide.
I took this decision because I did not have a child that will inherit this
money and my husband relatives are bourgeois and very wealthy persons and
I do not want my husband hard earned money to be misused, so in his Faith
i have decided to do this for GOD as i Await your urgent reply:
With God all things are possible.
You’re Sister.
Mrs. Jana Markova
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Anti-fraud resources:
