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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "i got your email address from " (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Adeela Batal <abatal@ymail.com>
Date: Mon, 31 May 2010 12:43:11 +0300
Subject: urgent
Donation
Let me first of all inform you, I got your email address from a mail
Directory and decided to mail you for a permission to go ahead. I am
Mrs. Adeela Batal, a widow to late Baasim Batal from Kuwait, who
worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years before dying
in 2007. We were married for twenty years without a child. He died
after a brief illness that lasted only four days. my late husband
deposited a sum of (two million five hundred dollars, USD) in the bank
in suspense account which i inherited from my late husband. this money
is still with the Bank and the management just Wrote me as the
beneficiary to come forward to receive the money but because of my
condition i have decided to Issue a letter of authority to you so that
you can receive the money on my behalf.
I am presently in a hospital where I have been undergoing treatment
Cancer of the lungs. I have since lost my ability to talk and my
doctors have told me that I have only a few months to live so I think
the best thing to do is to use the money for charity purposes. I want
a person who is trustworthy to utilize 60% of this money to fund for
charity purposes. i am ready to issue you the authorization from the
high court of justice as soon as you give me your full contact detail.
I shall give you the contact details of the Bank immediately the
authorization is ready .Please assure me that you will act accordingly
as I stated here in and Keep this contact confidential till such a
time this funds get to your Custody. This is to ensure that nothing
jeopardizes my last wish on Earth.I await your urgent reply. May
almighty God bless you and your family.
Regards,Mrs. Adeela Batal.
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Anti-fraud resources:
