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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.
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Maria Joy Bright <peterhlhii130@gmail.com>
Reply-To: info@legaifirm.com
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2022 00:06:15 +0800
Subject: I'm Cancer patient
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Dear Beloved Friend.
I am Mrs. Maria Joy Bright from Switzerland, currently now undergoing
medical treatment in India. I am married to Mr. Davis Oliver Bright
who worked With Switzerland Embassy in the UK for Nine years before
he died in the year December 12th 2022.We were married for eleven
years without a child.
He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four Days. Before
his death we were both born again Christians. Since his death I
decided not to remarry or get a Child outside my matrimonial home,
which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he
deposited the sum of $6.5Million (Six Million Five hundred thousand
U.S.Dollars) with UNITED BANK UK Presently in the United Kingdom. Just
last week, my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next one
months due to cancer. Having known my condition I decided to donate
this Fund to you as a better Christian individual that will utilize
this money the way I am going to Instruct here in.
I do not want them to know about this Development. As soon As I
receive your reply I shall give you the contact Of my lawyer who will
help you effect the changes to your name as the original-beneficiary
of this fund.
If you write me back, I shall reveal more of my WILL to you.
Thanks and God bless you.
Mrs. Maria Joy Bright.
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Anti-fraud resources:
