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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:
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "certified bank draft" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- 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.
- ncitibank@mail.ru (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: CITIBANK NEW-YORK USA <damilolaolorunmaye2@gmail.com>
Reply-To: c.bank90@aol.com
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2022 09:53:42 -0800
Subject: Urgent Attention
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CITIBANK NEW-YORK USA
Attention beneficiary
Greetings,
This is to inform you that the U.S Government has instructed us to
remit the sum of $5 Million US dollar into your account. Being your
compensation fee, as your name was among the scam victims that lost a
lot of money to Africa and European Fraudsters. You are hereby advised
to stop all pending transactions between you and anybody on internet
because you will end up at nothing. Hence, there are four options to
receive your funds.
(1) Bank to Bank Wire Transfer
(2) Online Banking
(3) Atm Card
(4) Cheque/Certified Bank Draft.
We wait your immediate response with your information, to enable this
bank expedite action.
Full Name....................
Home Address.................
Occupation..............
Your whatsApp number............
Your Country........
Any Of Your Identity Card........
You are expected to forward the above information to the Authorized
Payment Center.
We wait for your urgent reply.
Yours Faithfully,
JMark Mason.
Executive.
e-mail on:ncitibank@mail.ru
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