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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:
- "clearance certificate" (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. )
- "clearance certificate" (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. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Christopher A. Wray" <imfgeorgieva366@gmail.com>
Reply-To: hondavidbrown33@firemail.de
Date: Sat, 6 May 2023 06:07:25 -0800
Subject: YOUR REMITTANCE FUND $15,500M USD
Christopher A. Wray
FBI Headquarters
USA
With all due respect,
We are hereby to inform you that we did our investigation on your
allegations of money laundry and fraud activities.
We find out that you are a decent and responsible man but you never
obtain FBI CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE from the FBI so that it can enable
you to claim your fund and all your money world wide.
If you don't get this certificate from us, you will not be able to
claim all your fund because we have put embargo on all your fund.
You are hereby to pay $400 through IMF Director so that we can forward
your certificate through IMF and you can get all your fund Worldwide
within 24 hours.
Kindly get back to us , so that we will direct you the origination of
your Fund where you can obtain the needful certificate of your Fund
You are hereby to comply with the payment within 24hours else you may
not be able to receive any fund world wide and all your transaction
will be cancelled.
We hope to hear from you soon.
Regards
Christopher A. Wray
FBI Headquarters
USA
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Anti-fraud resources:
