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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:
- "clearance fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "consignment " (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)
- "million 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)
- "a diplomat " ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Stephen L. Roger" <bnm1@ponlien.com>
Reply-To: rogerssteven1111@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 01 Aug 2019 22:30:27 -0700
Subject: Re: Your Abandoned Shipment..
Attention
I am Mr. Stephen Roger, UN inspection officer at Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta
International Airport. I am contacting you regarding an abandoned
package
and the x-ray scan reported that the package revealed some U.S dollars
bill
in it which could be approximately 12,5Million Dollars. To confirm you
as
the authentic beneficiary, do send me your full name, your home address,
your mobile phone #, occupation and the nearest airport to your contact
address.
For your information the package was abandoned by a diplomat who was on
transit to your location I guess but because of his inability to pay the
ATL clearance fee he abandoned the package with the Airport authority
without any notification of his arrival for clearance. I have took this
upon myself to contact you personally about this abandoned package so
that
we can transact this as a deal to enable you compensate me as soon as
your
package delivery is concluded. And we must complete the delivery to you
fast since US Customs Border and Protection (CBP) are on clearance for
some
beneficiaries abandoned consignment boxes/packages to be transfer to the
US
Treasury Department as an unclaimed effect.
I want both of us to transact this as a deal and also I want your trust
and
co-operation to enable us conclude your package delivery arrangement
within
the next 24-48hours after confirmation is done and your willingness to
co-operate.
All communication must be held extremely confidential to ensure a
successful delivery.
Mr. Stephen Roger
United Nations Inspection Officer
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Anti-fraud resources:
