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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:
- "hundred thousand united state dollars" (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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Jon Tan <jontan01@yandex.com>
Reply-To: jontan1@qq.com
Date: 27 May 2019 19:56:44 +0300
Subject: Re:URGENT REPLY NEEDED
Dear
I am Mr. Jon Tan, I have just retired from the Bank Negara Malaysia (Central
Bank of Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I was a member of the audit
committee tasked with the audit/investigation of all commercial banks here
in Malaysia.
During my time at the Bank Negara Malaysia, I discovered a dormant account
which my findings and investigation confirms the account owner is a deceased
investor from your country and I have decided to contact you because you
bear the same last name which gives you a great opportunity to suggest/claim
that you are a relative of the decease hence you can file an application for
inheritance claim to retrieve his dormant account valued at
US$19.500,000:00(Nineteen Million Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars
Only) as the next of kin to the deceased since he has no existing relative
to claim his funds.
Do confirm your willingness to work with me in exploring this great once in
a life time opportunity which you shall be entitled to 40% of the
inheritance amount for your cooperation. You are advised to indicating your
interest and furnishing me the following information’s:
1.Your full name. 2. Your complete contact address 3. Your Occupation and
Position, 4.Your Private Telephone & Fax Number which you can send through
my confidential email address:
jontan1@qq.com
As soon as I receive any further correspondence from you, I shall
immediately contact you with a detailed explanation of how we shall proceed
to achieve a successful project.
Regards
Jon Tan
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Anti-fraud resources:
