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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:
- "confidential business" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: David Allen <chineduzobe@gmail.com>
Reply-To: davidmarkallen399@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2023 15:40:17 +0100
Subject: GET BACK TO ME IMMEDIATELY
Attention Sir
I have been an executive with a well established institution in
charge of private investments and portfolio since June 6 2019.
I am inviting you to join me in a confidential business proposition
for you. I have a group of clients who opened investment accounts
with my financial institution buying them stocks and shares all over
the world in Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Blue Origin, Samsung etc. Due to
the present situation with the Ukraine war and sanctions. I want to
revert the ownership of the investments to you.
I need you for this as it will be beneficial to you and me. Proceeds
from this transaction will be used to build a refinery in your country
and another. Please contact me for more details if you are interested.
Thank you
David Allen
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Anti-fraud resources:
