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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:
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: contactin@emsgpo.info
Reply-To: ghart8116@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 08 May 2023 10:59:21 -0700
Subject: Urgent reply needed
Hello , We have been in search of a reliable and capable person, who can st=
and as the benefactor for a dormant account here in our bank. After due dil=
igence we observed that the owner died years ago as none of his family memb=
ers have come for the claims because he was divorced and had no kids from o=
ur records. However, we have his assets documents deposited with us here an=
d the sum of $128.500,000.00 (One hundred twenty eight million five hundred=
thousand United states dollars) which we are in search of a foreign partne=
r that will stand as the true next of kin of the deceased customer. Kindly =
get back to me if you are interested, for more information. Warmest regards=
. Mr. Hartz Graham
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Anti-fraud resources:
