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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:
- "lome togo" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Steve Collins <keystonecapitalgroupin@gmail.com>
Reply-To: atmpayment2.tg@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2023 19:36:17 +0000
Subject: Your Mail
Attention: Beneficiary
This is to officially notify you that International Monetary Fund
(IMF) together with US Federal Reserve is compensating all the scam
victims with the sum of US$850,000,00(Eight hundred and fifty thousand
United States Dollars) each and your email address was found among
the scam victims list that's why we are contacting you. We have
deposited your fund at the payment director/agent location where the
investigation started.
Reconfirm the below information to us to be sure of the person we are
paying and to update your files.
Your full name:
Address:
Age:
Occupation:
Contact telephone number:
Upon the receipt of the above information more details will be given to you.
Yours Sincerely.
Steve Collins
IMF Investigation Officer
Lome Togo
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Anti-fraud resources:
