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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- aib078089@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Ahmed Ibrahim <support@ugtel.ru>
Reply-To: aib078089@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2020 16:21:01 +0300
Subject: Please Read.
Dear Sir/Madam
I am Ahmed Ibrahim, personal aid to ousted Sudan president Omar AL-Bashir. I have emailed you earlier on without any response from you. I need your urgent co-operation to help claim 15M Euros entrusted in my care. Omar AL-Bashir trusted this very fund to me in a private security Company for an arrangement to import Military weapons from Russia.
I want to present you to the company where the fund is deposited in Turkey as the beneficiary contractor, But the most important thing is trust in this deal, once the funds are secured by you. The reason why I contacted you is that I am tired of staying here and I want to move out of Sudan secretly hence am trying to have you receive the funds on my behalf and thereafter from my share finance my coming to join you in a new identity, then start a new life.
I am looking forward to your kind reply.
Yours Faithfully,
Ahmed Ibrahim
Email: aib078089@gmail.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
