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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 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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "MR. HASSAN ROUHANI" <monicalinbrown111@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrhassanr900@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2022 04:37:08 -0800
Subject: YOUR KIND ASSISTANT NEEDED
Can you assist me in securing USD$41.6 Million Dollars. You will be
rewarded with 35% of the total sum for your partnership.
SOURCE OF FUNDS:This is an abandoned sum and it belongs to our late
Customer, a Libya oil tycoon who died with his family as result of
Bomb explosion in Libya on 31th of December 2010/2011. This fund was
left unclaimed in custody of our Bank as an unclaimed Deposit.
The transaction has to be concluded as soon as I confirm your
readiness to proceed with me, I will provide you with details.please
get back to me
My best regards,
Mr Hassan Rouhani
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Anti-fraud resources: