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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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "% will be for you" (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)
- "keep this 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: Lawrence Pierre <unitech-bsb@unitech.com>
Reply-To: p2558661@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2020 06:03:28 -0700
Subject: Greetings
am indeed glad to be in contact with you even though this medium of communication (internet) has been grossly abused by criminal minded
people making it difficult for people with genuine intention to correspond and exchange views without skepticism.
I am Lawrence Pierre , financial assistant to late Jeffrey Epstein Financier owner, an American billionaire who died recently in new York prison.Two days before his death he instructed me to give $10,500,000 million dollars to an individual for charity work 40% will be for you that will handle the distribution of the fund and 60% goes for charity work . Please you should keep this confidential to yourself.He also warned me to remain anonymous the public or the government should not be aware of this donation.
Take note: You will not be asked to pay Tax or legal fee charges is not applicable, as soon as you respond to this email that you can use this money wisely for charity work i will make urgent arrangement for this money to be with you in three-four working days.
Reply me with the following details:
Full names:
Address:
Occupation:
Telephone number:
Regards,
Lawrence Pierre
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Anti-fraud resources:
