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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- diao1mingsheng@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Diao Mingsheng" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <diao1mingsheng@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2022 16:10:47 -0800
Subject: Urgent Response Needed
Attention Beneficiary:
I am Mr. Diao Mingsheng Ambassador of the China to Benin Republic,
We was on ECOWAS on our last meeting and I was searching for some
packages that left unclaimed and found out that you have not received
your package, and I asked DR. BRYON DOUGLAS the Director at DHL Benin
Republic what happened that you have not received your package and he
said that you refused to pay the $205.00 keeping fee.
I'm contacting you now because DR. BRYON DOUGLAS the Director at DHL
Benin Republic said that they will divert your Package to the Government
Treasury Account just because that you can not pay for their keeping fee
of your package which is $205.00.00 only.
But I told them to wait until I hear from you today so that I will know the
reason why you rejected your $5.8M USD which will change your life just because
of $205.00 I want your urgent response as soon as you receive this email and
explain to me the reason why you have abandoned your package because of just
$205.00. But if you don't need it then I can change your name to another person
so that this Government will not claim this money but I know that you will love
to have it.
Please my dear I want to help you to receive this fund because it was a big shock
to me that you have not received your package since years back now and I’m very
sorry for that and you will receive your package before the end of this meeting
which will take us 4days and I will be here to monitor it until you receive your
package.I will be waiting to hear from you soon to know your mind about this issue.
Regards
Diao Mingsheng
Ambassador of China to Benin
Email; diao1mingsheng@gmail.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
