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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:
- "million 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Kenneth Young" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tny.kow@onet.pl>
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2024 01:52:17 -0800
Subject: Investment Opportunity
Greetings.
Trust this message meets you well.
My name is Kenneth Young, A lawyer and business consultant.
I represent the interests of a very wealthy individual who formerly occupied a sensitive position in the government of his country.
He is a high net worth individual and would like to move the majority of his funds to a more stable economy for a decent return on investment. I am writing to you to know if you have good projects that need financial back up of up to Five Hundred Million United States Dollars typically in exchange for ownership equity in your company.
Please contact me urgently if you have any questions regarding how to move forward.
Sincerely,
Kenneth Young
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Anti-fraud resources:
