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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:
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: "Barr. Mark Oliver" <rexjohnson251@gmail.com>
Reply-To: barrmarkoliver161@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2023 01:14:41 +0100
Subject: 13/04/2023
*Greetings to you,My name is Mark Oliver, a civil lawyer/consultant. I
write to you based on a request of an investor and her need for investment
in your country. My client want to invest in financial estate in your
Country. This requires a private arrangement although the details of this
transaction will be furnished to you only if you indicate your interest in
this proposal. We are willing to offer you 20% of the total fund and
additional 10% on Return On Investment (ROI). I expect to hear from you if
you are willing to do business with us so we can proceed. NOTE: If you
received this message in your SPAM/JUNK folder, that is because of the
restrictions implemented by your Internet Service Provider, you are advice
to treat it genuinely. Thanks for reading through.Yours
Faithfully,Barrister Mark Oliver.*
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Anti-fraud resources:
