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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:
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- "refund.payment@unitedsnations.org" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Thomas Wilson <cr@sodetel.net.lb>
Reply-To: refund.payment@unitedsnations.org
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2024 15:45:48 +0200
Subject: payment
--
Good day.
After a detailed report from our Fraud Intelligence Unit, our combined
taskforce was able to track down some suspected scam artists recovering
huge amount of money and prosecuted them under the Fraud Act 2006 (c
35), that defines criminal offence of fraud in three classes:(a)Fraud by
false representation,(b)Fraud by failing to disclose
information,(c)Fraud by abuse of position which says that any person
found guilty of fraud is liable to a fine or imprisonment of up to
twelve months on summary conviction, or imprisonment for up to ten years
on conviction of indictment as published herein:
https://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-Events/News/2023/USD-300-million-seized-and-3-500-suspects-arrested-in-international-financial-crime-operation
women and aged people who are often their targets lose huge amount of
money yearly to financial fraud according to the U.S government
accountability office. the United Nations board of trustees on
humanitarian aids instructed that part of the money recovered should be
shared to some selected people whom their email addresses was found on
computer hard-drive of the apprehended scam artists hence we email you
which by so doing will help reduce global poverty and inflation that is
expected to fall to 5.8 percent in 2024 and 4.4 percent in 2025, with
the 2025 forecast revised down by world economic outlook 2024.
get back to me on: refund.payment@unitedsnations.org
Thomas Wilson.
Processing Officer.
For: Internet crime complaint center.
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Anti-fraud resources:
