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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:
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr.Edward Shaw" <abm453620@gmail.com>
Reply-To: edward.shaw0001@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2021 17:16:29 +0100
Subject: URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSAL
--
Dear Si,
Pardon me for infringing on your privacy but this is a matter I cannot
help and need to do something urgently. I have tried all I can to
contact a certain contractor who completed a project with a Federal
Government Agency in my country worth USD$23.5Million. This fund has
been approved for payment by the Ministry of Finance through Caja Mar
Bank of Spain, but unfortunately I found out that the man died this
year of Covid 19 complications. I am the only one that knows this
truth and want to take advantage of it.
I am only contacting you so you can stand in for this man and receive
the fund on his behalf and we can share. This is top confidential and
I hope you can handle it. I will give you more details once I hear
from you. This is 100% risk free since all the approvals have been
secured just to fill in your name and the fund will be transferred to
you. Get back to me urgently.
Best Regards,
Dr.Edward Shaw.
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Anti-fraud resources:
