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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:
- ",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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Jean Marie Kojo." <kentharley8@gmail.com>
Reply-To: jeanmariekojo@hotmail.com
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2021 10:14:02 +0000
Subject: Awaiting your reply to give you more details.
Hello dear,
My name is Mr. Jean Marie Kojo. (Advocate) I wrote to you earlier but
you did not respond. I need your assistance in retrieving my late
client's funds worth ($10,500.000 U.S.) deposited with a bank here in
my country. Note that your surname is similar to my late client's
family Surname name and that was the reason why I have contacted you
to assist me to retrieve the unclaimed funds because the bank has
issued me an official mandate to submit the beneficiary's name to them
for claim of the deposited ($10,500,000 U.S.) by my late client in
their bank or the bank will confiscate and close the account if no
response.
If you are interested for more information regarding this mutual
profit transaction, kindly get back to me urgently. Our sharing ratio
stands 50%-50%.
Send your information to me urgently.
1) Full name--------------------------------------------
2) Mobile number---------------------------------------
Regard.
Mr. Jean Marie Kojo
Tel +22896911244
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Anti-fraud resources:
