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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:
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
- 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.
- firstfederalsavingsbank@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: MARK ZUCKERBERG <afrizal@tachyon.net.id>
Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2022 04:44:27 +0700 (WIT)
Subject: Dear Facebook User You Won a Lottery Cash Fund
Dear Facebook User Owner
This is to inform you that your E-mail and Facebook User ID have been
selected as one of the lucky user to benefit in 2022 Facebook Lucky
Winner prize of a cashier Check worth of US$4,000,000.00 United States
Dollars from international programs held on the 2nd selection 2022 in
the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The selection process was carried out
through random selection in our computerized selection system (ESS)
from a database of over 250,000 email addresses User id drawn from all
the continents of the world which you were selected.
The Facebook Lucky Winner is approved and also Licensed by the
International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR).To begin
the processing of your prize you are to contact our Corresponding
Bank FIRST FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK to claim your funds,
Bank name:FIRST FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK
Managing Director: Mr. Ron Wolfe
Director Phone: +1(208)357-9200
Email : firstfederalsavingsbank@aol.com
Contact him by providing him with your information as soon as possible:
Note: It's your responsibility as a winner to facilitate the necessary
bill for your grand prize fund to your possession.
Bank is waiting to hear from you to proceed
Yours In Service
FACEBOOK ORGANIZATION
DIRECTOR MARK ZUCKERBERG
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Anti-fraud resources:
