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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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Miss Wendy George <misswendygeorge@gmail.com>
Reply-To: miswendygeorge@protonmail.com
Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2022 07:58:50 -0700
Subject:
I am with tears and sorrow in my eyes, I know this message will come
to you as a surprised but permit me of my desire to go into business
relationship with you. My name is Miss Wendy George, 21 years old Girl
from South Sudan, My father and I escaped from our country to Burkina
Faso. At the heat of the civil war after losing my mother and two of
my senior brothers in the war.
I am here seeking for avenue to transfer my inheritance fund of
$15.5Million United State Dollar to your position,
This fund was deposited in Dubai United Arab Emirates but I am in
Africa at the moment. Where i and my father escape to because of the
heat of the war in my country I will be waiting to hear from you for
more explanation about this transfer thanks
Miss Wendy George
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Anti-fraud resources:
