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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million us 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 next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Lisa Zhao Hong <lisazhaohong@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2022 06:29:19 +0000
Subject: Respond for more details
Sir, How are you and your family , I hope fine and I hope you don't find
this offensive.. Anyways, I contacted you for a purpose. My name Ms Lisa
Zhao Hong. I'm a banker. I would like to discuss a proposition regarding a
deposit left behind by my client which is about to be confiscated by a
financial institution. The reason I contacted you is because my late
customer has the same surname as yours. He died years ago and left
$25million US dollars in his account. since then no relative have come to
claim this money I now seek your consent to present you as the next of kin
to the late account holder. I have relevant documents to back up this claim
and I assure you that we will handle everything legally and professionally.
We can discuss this transaction very well so I can direct you on what to do
next. Best Regards Ms Lisa Zhao Hong
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Anti-fraud resources:
