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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:
- "confidential business" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "very 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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: sunil.semwal@inc.in
Reply-To: a.aahil@aol.com
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2019 11:11:44 -0700
Subject: Good day!!!
How are you doing today?
I believe you are doing great. I am indeed sorry for contacting you through this means. However my name is Mr. Aahil Abdul Khaliq and I work with the First Gulf Bank, Dubai UAE., I understand that the Internet has been insulted by scam and fraudsters who tries to rip off people of their hard earn money,but I am a devoted Muslim man and I cannot lie to you because it is against my ethics and moral believe and also a sin against Muslim moral believe and I believe it is only a day that people meet and become great friends and business partners. I write you this proposal in good faith, believing that I can trust you with the information I am about to reveal to you.
I have an urgent and very confidential business proposition for you.I want to discuss with you. Kindly write back if you are interested so I can tell you more about it in details as soon as I receive your urgent response.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Thank you.
Mr. Aahil Abdul Khaliq
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Anti-fraud resources:
