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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:
- "huge sum of money" (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)
- "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)
- "hundred thousand 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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Pastor Donald Harrison"<no_reply@ocii.com>
Reply-To: vkatl8217@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2022 10:09:53 +0000
Subject: VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION (PLEASE GET BACK TO ME )
Dearly Beloved
May the peace of the Lord be with you and your household ,Amen. My name is Pastor Donald Mark Harrison.
I am from United states of America and by the grace of God I am also the head Pastor of Assemblies of God Ministries .
I wish to seek your assistance in transferring a huge sum of money ( US$ 5.2 Million Dollars ) (Five Million,Two Hundred Thousand United States Dollars ) belonging to my deceased congregant , whom I operated/managed and guided on the operation of the account in which he deposited the huge sum of money with Bank of America but unfortunately he was diagnosed COVID 19 CONORA VIRUS which took his life afterwards. May his soul continue to Rest In Peace ,Amen .
Are you in any way related to the deceased ? I am contacting you particularly because you bear the same surname with the deceased ? kindly get back to me even if you are not related so we can discuss further .
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I am legally in custody of the entire deposit requirement that was properly handed over to me
which will be presented to the bank for approval once I have your consent using my post as a Banker .
We shall follow due process , .All I need is your trust and honesty that you will not betray me once this fund is released to you as next of kin upon legal documentation .
Hebrew Chapter 11:16 " NOW faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see " .
God bless you
Thanks and waiting for your email
Pastor Donald Harrison
Assemblies of God ministries Head Pst
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Anti-fraud resources:
