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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:
- "tax fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "hundred thousand 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)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: mredwarddugger <mredwarddugger@gmail.com>
Reply-To: deliverycompan1@kakao.com
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2021 19:43:08 +1100
Subject: Attention Dear Beneficiary
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Greetings Dear beneficiary,
This is Dr Chris James from Bank Of America, We discovered an
abandoned ATM Master Card with a load of $ (Ten Million, Five Hundred
Thousand United States Dollars) by the IMF with your name.
According to our constitution you were denied several times during the
process of the delivery because you refused to take care of
registration and tax fees from our bank institution. However before
the fund is released to you, kindly reconfirm your delivery address
immediately so that we don't make an error or any obstacles in the
delivery process. for more details
Faithfully
Dr Chris James
Bank of America Members.
E:mail. drchrisjames1@protonmail.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
