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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "required fee " (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. )
- "service fee" (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)
- "abuja" (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.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- wstuartsymington866@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "W. Stuart Symington" <prettychinwenduobasi@gmail.com>
Reply-To: wstuartsymington866@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2023 23:16:34 -0700
Subject: US Ambassador
This is Mr. W. Stuart Symington the Former United States Ambassador to
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I came down here in Abuja-Nigeria for
an ECO WAS meeting and I was searching for some files that I left in
this office before I left and found out that you have not received
your fund, and I asked the present ambassador Mary Beth Leonard what
happened that you have not receive your fund and he said that you
refused to pay the required fee for the delivery of your ATM CARD.
I'm contacting you this morning because the director of the ATM CARD
center here in Nigeria said that they will diver your ATM CARD to the
Government Treasury just because you cannot pay for the service fee of
your ATM CARD which is $155 only according to them.But I told them to
wait until I hear from you today so that I will know the reason why
you rejected such amount of money $10.5M which will change your life
just because of $155 you have to send for you to receive your $10.5
million dollars in next 4 days
Please my dear I want to help you to receive this fund because it was
a big shock to me that you have not receive your ATM CARD and withdraw
from your money for years now and I'm very sorry for that and you will
receive your fund before the end of this meeting which will take us 4
days CARD.that contain the sum of $10.5 million dollars in next 4
days once you send the $155 only
Finally, make sure that you reconfirm your full details.
1) FULL NAMES:
2) DELIVERY ADDRESS:
3) PHONE NUMBER/
4) COUNTRY:
PHONE: +234-7019474148
W. Stuart Symington
wstuartsymington866@gmail.com
From United States Former Ambassador to the Republic of Nigeria
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Anti-fraud resources:
