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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Michael Abel <georgeabel81@gmail.com>
Reply-To: abbrre14@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2021 14:23:47 +0000
Subject: Reply
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Attn:
Compliments of the day.
First let me apologize if this email does not suit your business or
personal ethic. My name is Michael Abel, I am an investment manager to
an investor. My client the investor died.
I am writing this mail to call for your collaboration in a partnership
business in your country. I have the mandate to look for an honest
person with whom to invest the sum of USD$75 Million in a profitable
venture, the funds is right now in a vault of a financial institution.
In fact, I need your assistance to be able to claim the funds, due to
certain clause on the deposit agreement between the deceased (the
depositor) and the financial institution.
My questions are?
1. Can you handle this project?
2. Can I give you this trust?
If yes kindly indicate your interest by a return mail for more details.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Abel
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Anti-fraud resources:
