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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:
- "trunk box" (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)
- "trunk boxes" (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)
- "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.
- 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.
- austinscottmi212@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Lt Gen. Austin Scott Miller"
Reply-To: <austinscottm1111@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Nov 2020 17:18:52 +0100
Subject: Re; Get Back To Me.
Greetings to you!
My name is Lieutenant General Austin Scott Miller. I'm American soldier, presently serving in Afghanistan as US Army LT General commander here in Afghanistan, I'm very desperate in need for your assistance, I have decided to contact you for your kind assistance to received the two military trunk boxes which contain the sum of $40 million united states dollars, that already arrived in USA from Afghanistan, if I can be assured that my share will be safe in your care until I complete my service. I want to invest this money and your assistance is urgently needed to accomplish this task. I am ready to compensate you with 30% of the $40 million for your assistance. I do not know how long we will remain here. I will explain further when I get a response from you.
Kindly contact me on this email address below:
Email address: austinscottmi212@gmail.com
You can watch my below video speech for reference:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4736287/lt-gen-austin-s-miller-opening-remarks
Sorry if you may receive this message in your spam due to the poor network failure.
God bless you.
Lt Gen. Austin Scott Miller.
Kabul Afghanistan
US ARMY LIEUTENANT GENERAL
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Anti-fraud resources:
