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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:
- "account opening" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "million dollars" (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)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.John C Williams" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <reservebankdepartment012@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2023 08:21:23 -0700
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS! WE HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR YOU FROM FEDERAL RESERVE BANK!
Dear beneficiary,
This is to bring to your notice that we have added a new and cheaper
option for receiving your funds and this option might interest you.
The Federal Reserve Bank has partnered with a new Crypto company called
"KARTAN INVESTMENT COMPANY".
All you're requested to do is to get back to us in order to send you
the account opening link for you to sign up on KARTAN INVESTMENT website
Once your account is active, the Federal Reserve Bank will upgrade your total
$15.5million dollars into your crypto account with KARTAN INVESTMENTS
COMPANY.
The benefit is this, you can either decide to withdraw your total
funds to your regular bank account without any hassles or withdraw a
part and leave some part as an investment with the company which will
keep generating a certain percentage of returns, ranging from 5% to
10% daily.
Kindly get back to us for further inquiries, and to also clear
anything that appears confusing to you.
Thank You...
Mr.John C Williams
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Anti-fraud resources:
