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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:
- "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 fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
Fraud email example:
From: ANTONY BLINKEN <lharrix8@gmail.com>
Reply-To: info@ablinken.us
Date: Sat, 11 Sep 2021 22:44:01 +0100
Subject: Ref: You're shortlisted in the U.S Lottery
Congratulations!
We are pleased to inform you that you've been selected through your E-MAIL
ADDRESS to receive the sum of (Five Million United States Dollars), in the
U.S Lottery Program. Your Reference Number is (U.S-LOTTO-55795).
All beneficiaries were selected through a global random integrated system
drawn in 50 million Email addresses via the Internet and lucky winners do
not have to purchase any ticket or apply to win in this Lottery Program.
Forward your full details such as your name: Telephone Number: Age: Sex:
Address and Your file Reference, for processing and payment of payment of
your winning.
Kindly forward your details to:
Contact Person: Mr. Wally Adeyemo.
=== Deputy Secretary of the Treasury ===
E-mail: info@dstwally.us
Tel: +1 (650) 391-2882
Your email won our Jackpot, congratulations once more.
Yours in Service,
Mr. Antony Blinken (United States Secretary of State)
U.S Lottery Facilitator. © 2021.
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NOTE: If you received this message in your SPAM/BULK folder, that is
because of the restrictions implemented by your Internet Service Provider,
we the (Lottery Team) urge you to treat it genuinely. To participate more
in the U.S lottery draw visit: www.lotteryusa.com.
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Anti-fraud resources:
