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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:
- "my names are " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "economic and financial crimes commission" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "farida mzamber waziri" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "farida waziri" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- 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.
- ecofinancialcrime@i12.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs Farida Waziri" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ecofinancialcrime@i12.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:08:10 -0700
Subject: Delayed Transfer Fund: YOU HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH THE WRONG OFFICES
Hello,
My Names are Mrs. Farida Waziri the new Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission chairperson in Nigeria and i understand you are expecting
your delayed fund to be wired to you but some top government officials
and bank partners will not tell you the truth about the whereabouts
of your fund and all they are doing is to tell you to pay outrageous
fees which you refused to come up with but I will not do that based
on my conscience and that is why I have contacted you to let you know
because i know you have gone far in trying to get this fund and must
have paid some amounts of monies to persons you are not supposed to
give out a dime to.
I will be ready to help you get your fund but you have to help me keep
it a secret to enable me help in delivering your fund as the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission principal officer.You better believe
me or forget contacting me again but i know that they will never tell
you the truth. Get back to me and i will tell you the possible way to
get your fund delivered to you without the consent of anyone because i
know God will reward me after all.
I can also be reached via my private email below.
ecofinancialcrime@i12.com
I expect your prompt response.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs Farida Mzamber Waziri.
Chairperson,
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission {EFCC}
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Anti-fraud resources:
