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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447031930916 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "ken Gabriel" <ken.manager@alitour.com>
Reply-To: kengabriel@freenet.lu
Date: Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:39:08 -0400
Subject: This is a top secret.`
Dear Friend,
My name is Mr. Ken Gabriel; i am the Fund Manager in a finance bank
(London).
As a Fund Manager, i handle many of our Investor's Direct Capital
Funds which gave me the opportunity to discover an Arabian deceased
account which has been dormant for 7 years. Now, no one is to claim
the funds since his family vanished. I want to use my position to
present you as the next of kin to enable us share the money equal 50-
50 without my bank knowing that I am the head behind this success. The
money involved in millions of US dollars).
My sincere aim and objective is to contribute and donate some of my
share to Haita Earthquake.
If you are interested, i will use your name as the next of kin to
enable you receive the money within 7 working days. Reply me back
immediately if you are ready to work with me and also keep this
business as a secret.
I am waiting for your earliest reply.
Sincerely,
Ken Gabriel
Phone:+44 7031930916
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Anti-fraud resources:
