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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:
- "hundred thousand united states 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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "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)
- This email message is a orphan scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Christelle <susansmt61@gmail.com>
Reply-To: adwachristelle@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 12:46:04 +0000
Subject: Good Day
Hello Dear ,
My name is Christelle Adwa. I am the only child of
late Mr. and Mrs.William Adwa. my father was a wealthy entrepreneur in
Ivory Coast. He owned an oil and gas company and also had significant
investments in real estate and agriculture. my father was poisoned at a
dinner party organized by his business friends and died after a short
illness that lasted only a few days. my mother died of breast cancer many
years ago when i was a small child.
Before my father died, he confided in me that he has a
fixed deposit of six million five hundred thousand United States Dollars
(US$6,500,000.00) and he listed my name as his heir on the fund's deposit
documents. he explained to me that because of his success and dominance in
african business he was poisoned by his business rivals and advised me to
take a
trustworthy person to help me transfer this money abroad and use it for
investment projects like real estate and hotels.
Please, I honorably ask for your support in the following ways:
(1) To act as the investment manager of this money as I am still a student
(2) To arrange for me to come to your country and my
continue studying
(3) To get me a residence permit in your country
In addition, I am willing to offer you 30% of the total amount as
compensation for your help after successfully transferring the money to
your bank account. Please list your options to help me as I believe this
transaction will be completed within seven (7) days expressing your
interest in helping me.
Kind regards
Christelle
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Anti-fraud resources:
