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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 united states 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: "Mr. Owen Charles" <al3626274@gmail.com>
Reply-To: owencharles923@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2020 13:39:47 +0200
Subject: RE
Hello
I am Mr. Owen Charles, I represent a group of project funding investors
based in South Africa and desirous of investing outside South Africa in
projects with good Returns on Investment.
The said funds were accumulated by two directors with the Department of the
Minerals and Energy with South African Government as coordinators of the
Finance and Contracts. The crux of this letter is that the finance/contract
department of the DME deliberately over-inflated the contract values of the
various contract awarded. In the course of disbursement of the original
contract value, they were able to track down the sum of (US$40 Million)
Forty Million United States Dollars as the over-invoiced sum which they now
intend to invest outside the shore of South Africa.
Funds are available for investment on any viable project/business or
expansion that meets our requirements. Our initial investment portfolio is
$5M to $40M, the initial tenure of capital is between 5 to 7 years and
could be extended if investor and investee agree.
Please provide further details of your offer by email so we can deliberate
on it and revert to you.
I look forward to your email and positive response.
Best wishes,
Regards,
Mr. Owen Charles
35 Homestead Road
Ravinia, Johannesburg
South Africa
Tel: +27-63-2696-383
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Anti-fraud resources:
