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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:
- "certified bank draft" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Dr Mahammed Yaya <drmohammedyaya@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2011 09:18:36 +0100
Subject: YOUR COMPENSATION
Dear good Friend,
I am happy to inform you of my success in getting those funds transfer with
the help of
another partner from UK. So I am now in United Kingdom for investment with
that my new
partner.But i did not forget your past effort despite that it fails us
somehow.
Now Contact my account officer for your compensation of $1.5 million usd
which i kept in
international certified bank draft for you with this information bellow.
Name;Rev. Johnson.
E-mail; (secretarypauljohnson2011@live.com)
Forward TO HIM WITH BELOW INFO..
YOUR NAME........
YOUR ADDRESS.........
YOUR TELEPHONE.........
YOUR ANOTHER MAIL ID .....
YOUR COUNTY.............................
Instruct him where to send it to you.
Best Regards
DR Jacob.
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Anti-fraud resources:
