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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:
- "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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "TRUST" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <johnduggan583@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 2020 08:14:12 -0700
Subject: RE: URGENT PLEASE
Greetings to you.
Please with due respect my name is Mr.John Duggan Director Guaranty Trust bank Ghana. Please confirm if you are dead or alive because a lady name Juliet Henderson walked in My office this morning with your Doctor's Report to prove that you are dead and In This Letter your Doctor signed and Confirmed about your death four days ago meanwhile Mrs Juliet claimed to be your next of kin is here to claim your fund Fifteen Million Dollars Approved by World Bank and United Nations as your compensation so please should we go ahead to release the money to her.
If you are alive please get back to me to confirm if we should go ahead and pay your fifteen million dollars to her because she is willing to pay the last fee for code and documents which is the reason your payment is on hold for long.
I wish you save for this time of Corona Virus
Thanks
John
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Anti-fraud resources:
