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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:
- "money gram" (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. )
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "jasmine9314@peoplepc.com" <jasmine9314@peoplepc.com>
Reply-To: "jasmine9314@peoplepc.com" <FederalMiniyfF_inanceofice@emailn.at>
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2019 04:50:21 +0100 (GMT+01:00)
Subject: Attention Dear,
Attention Dear,
We the Money Gram bored office has hereby write to inform you that after the meeting with the federal government and the federal ministry of finance today, we found out that you have been nominated to receive an compensations from the federal government which is the sum of $950,000.00 Million USD your were awarded by the federal government since 13th, September 2019. But the ex Director of federal ministry of finance decided out of his greediness to claim the funds and we found your payment file under his table he was fired immediately and they appointed a new director.
Conatct E-mail FederalMiniyfF_inanceofice@emailn.at
Therefore you are advice to provide your receiver’s information to enable us start transferring the funds to you as directed by the appointed new federal ministry of finance director you will be receiving it as daily payment through United Bank of Benin republic $6800 three times daily.
Regards
Bowen Larry.
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Anti-fraud resources:
