joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "any lucrative business in your country" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "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)
  • ",000,000" (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)
  • "with absolute secrecy" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
  • "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal - arrests of online criminals are rare)
  • "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 next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:15:51 -1200
Subject: From NEAL BUSH.

Dear Friend ,

I apologize if the contents hereunder are contrary to your
moral ethics, but please treat it with absolute secrecy and
personal courtesy. I am NEAL BUSH,an Auditor in a commercial
Bank here in England, in the process of auditing our bank
accounts this quarter, I and one of my colleagues recently
discovered that there is a dormant account valued at the sum
of $10,000,000.00 (Ten million united states Dollars) and
after due verification of this account we discovered that
the account owner is late and that is why the account has
been dormant and as such a $10,000,000.00 has been lying in
the bank unclaimed.

The idea of presenting a foreigner to act as his next of kin
came into our mind as you know the said deceased is a
foreigner as well. Hence, that is how and why we have
contacted you to present you as his next of kin, so that the
$10,000.000.00 will be paid to you and we can both disburse
the fund according to the percentage we will agree upon.

In view of this, I am seeking for your co-operation and
understanding to stand as the next of kin to our deceased
customer, to enable us claim the fund from my bank.

Hence, If this proposal is OK by you and you do not wish to
take undue
advantage of my trust, then I hope to bestow on you.Please
kindly get back to me immediately, strictly via my private
email address only to enable me enlighten you on how we are
to proceed.

On getting your response, we shall agree on the percentage
ratio on which we shall disburse the $10,000,000.00 between
us, as we intend to invest part of our own share in real
estate or any lucrative business in your country, and we
would appreciate if you can put us in the right part where
we can invest our own share in your country.

I will not contact any person or company until I hear from
you, so as to enable me decide on what to do next..

Be rest assured that this business is 100% risk free.

We await for your prompt response.

Best Regards,
Mr.NEAL BUSH.

NB: PLEASE NOTE THAT IT DOES NOT MATTER IF YOU ARE NOT
RELATED TO MY LATE CUSTOMER; THE FUND WILL STILL BE PAID TO
YOU, SINCE WE ARE PRESENTING YOU AS HIS NEXT OF KIN.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam