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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "charles soludo" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- donald_ego@sanook.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "MR CHARLES SOLUDO" <mrcharles@sanook.com>
Reply-To: donald_ego@sanook.com
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:08:08 -0500
Subject: PRIVATE BUSINESS.
I AM MR CHARLES SOLUDO, THE FORMER GOVERNOR OF NIGERIA APEX BANK OR CENTRAL
BANK. THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT HAVE RELIEVED ME OF MY JOB AND I AM UNDER CLOSE
WATCH BY SECURITY OPERATIVES. I DO NOT WANT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TO DICTATE
ABOUT MY MONEY KEPT IN OUR NEIGHBOURING COUNTRY.
PLEASE I HAVE SOME MONEY I LEFT IN A STORAGE VAULT COMPANY IN OUR NEIGBOURING
COUNTRY REPUBLIC OF GHANA AND I WANT THIS AMOUNT REMOVED FOR INVESTMENT
IMMEDIATELY. IF YOU CAN HANDLE THIS ARRANGEMENT, CONTACT MY CONFIDANT PERSON
WHOM IS DULY BRIEFED ABOUT THE PROCEDURES AS HE HAS MOVED TO MEET WITH YOU IN
GHANA SOON.
I HAVE 50 MILLION U.S DOLLARS IN CASH. I HAVE IT SECURED WELL IN A VAULT
COMPANY AS MY PERSONAL GOODS. CONTACT MR. DONALD EGO TO GET FURTHER DETAILS
ON HOW TO HANDLE THE BUSINESS ON MY BEHALF AS I DO NOT WANT MY NAME PROUNCED
OR EXPOSED IN THIS DEAL. HIS EMAIL ADDRESS: donald_ego@sanook.com
THANKING YOU.
MR. CHARLES SOLUDO.
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Anti-fraud resources:
