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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:
- "diplomatic agent" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: James Kelly <jakecedric190@gmail.com>
Reply-To: officefile1959@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2022 15:17:44 -0700
Subject: Attention
--
GOOD DAY I AM Diplomatic Agent JAMES KELLY,from DHL courier company, I
have been trying to reach you about an hour now just to inform you about my
successful arrival in southwest Regional Airport, (USA), with your ATM card
worth $17.5million USA dollars {seventeen million five hundered thousand
dollars} and other vital documents which I have been instructed to be
delivered to you. As I can not afford to spend more time here due to other
delivery I have to take care of in Austria.I have one more vital paper with
me but I can only present you the hard copy when I reach your house as that
it is the diplomatic rules, such as authorization to deliver. Reconfirm the
following information below so that I can deliver your ATM CARD package to
you today. FULL NAME: ======================================= HOME ADDRESS:
==================================== MOBILE
NO.:================================== NAME OF YOUR NEAREST AIRPORT:
=============== A COPY OF YOUR IDENTIFICATION: ======
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Anti-fraud resources:
