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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Attoh Messah <attohmessah@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 3 May 2022 17:21:26 +0200
Subject: P.T.O
Dear friend, I'm Barr. Attoh Messah, personal attorney to late Mr.
J.B.I am contacting you for a deposit of $10.5 million in bank made by
my late client.
And what makes it easy for us to claim without any problem is that he
left the funds in open beneficiary status.
This means that the bank will release the funds to anyone that applies
for it first.
Contact me immediately for more details.
Regard,
Barr. Attoh Messah
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Anti-fraud resources:
