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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.
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Theresa Han <sitac9051@gmail.com>
Reply-To: theresahan1121@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2023 19:42:30 +0000
Subject: I greet you in the name of the Lord
I greet you in the name of the Lord
I can’t imagine how you will feel receiving a sudden letter from a
remote country in faraway Ivory Coast and probably from someone you
are not very related to. I appeal to you to exercise a little patience
and read my letter dealing with you in this important transaction
I am Mrs. Theresa Han, a 65 years old based in Ivory Coast, I am
suffering from cancer diseases. I was married to Mr. Johnson Han who
was a contractor in the Ivory Coast government before he died in
hospital after a few days.
My late husband deposited the sum of US$2.5 million (Two Million and
Five Hundred Thousand Dollars) with a bank in Ivory Coast. I suffered
from cancer, recently, my doctor told me that I have limited days to
live because of the cancer problems I suffer from. I want to know if I
can trust you to use these funds for charity / orphans and 20 percent
will be for you as compensation.
I made this decision because I do not have children who will inherit
this money and my husband relatives are very wealthy people and I do
not want my husband hard earn money to be misused.
Please contact me so that I can give you more details and any delay in
your reply will give me space to acquire another good person for this
same purpose.
Waiting for your urgent answer With God all things are possible.
Your sister in Christ,
Mrs. Theresa Han
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Anti-fraud resources:
