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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:
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- 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.
- ademolaokutu@aeiou.pt (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: OFFICE OFFICE <stellagiovanni9006@gmail.com>
Reply-To: ademolaokutu@aeiou.pt
Date: Tue, 10 May 2022 08:44:15 +0100
Subject: Greetings.
Greetings.
I write to bring to your humble self, in accordance to the finance Act
of 2020 that was signed into law by the president of federal republic
of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari. That Finance Act 2020 give
power to the Federal government of Nigeria to borrow from or
confiscate all unclaimed funds in any dormant account in any
bank/company share dividends unclaimed for a period more than (6)six
years in Nigeria. Sequel to that I want to inform you that i
discovered long outstanding funds amount of USD35 Million that fall
into that category and as such I wish to solicit for your
collaboration to work with me so that I can immediately process the
release of the fund to you as the original owner for our mutual
benefits instead of loosing it to Nigeria Government.
CLICK THIS LINK FOR YOUR PERUSAL:
https://www.mondaq.com/nigeria/sales-taxes-vat-gst/1029956/finance-act-2020-highlights-of-latest-developments-in-nigeria39s-tax-regime
Thanks and urgently waiting your response to enable me give your more
directive on the way forward Email: ademolaokutu@aeiou.pt
Yours Sincerely,
Ademola Okutu(secretary).
Nigeria debt management office.
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Anti-fraud resources:
