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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:
- "diplomatic agent" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "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.
- 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.
- paulahmed02@yahoo.co.jp (Yahoo, Japan; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Funds Remittance Department" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <paulahmed02@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2011 18:33:53 -0700
Subject: Funds Remittance Department.....
PAYMENT CENTER NIGERIA
Funds Remittance Department
City Bank Plc plot 155 Gariki Abuja
Nigeria
Attn:
After a joint meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the Senate
Committee on Foreign Debts reconciliation and the Presidential Payment and
Implementation Panel on Contract/ inheritance fund under Category, which was
addressed and headed by the Nigerian It became imperative to contact you on
the subject matter. This meeting was initiated as part of the recent image
laundering scheme of the Nigerian .
During the meeting, so many negative reports were tabled on behalf of our
numerous contractors and foreign personnel's on how unfairly they have been
treated and extorted by some corrupt government officials who were vested
with the authority to pay them their entitlements. The most annoying and
irritating aspect of it all is that they could not effect payment to these
foreign beneficiaries after subjecting them to so much stress and trauma. So
the CITY BANK PLC ABUJA Nigeria has being instructed to carry out the
payment to you.
So for you to receive your fund which is worth $3.3M United States Dollars
all you need to do is to choose an option amongst the below options on how
you will prefer to get your funds.
EFCC is aware of this inheritance fund.Thats why they are monitoring the
city bank, so that the foreign contractor can receive this inheritance fund.
(1)Online Wire Transfer (OWT)
Full Name:
Full Address:
Phone Number:
Occupation:
Sex:
Age:
Country:
Bank Name:
Account Number:
Swift Code:
(2) Atm Card
Full Name:
Full Address:
Phone Number:
Occupation:
Sex:
Age:
Country:
(3) Certified Bank Draft
Full Name:
Full Address:
Phone Number:
Occupation:
Sex:
Age:
Country:
4) Delivery through diplomatic agent to your country
Full Name
Home Address
Phone Number
Identification Copy
Kindly choose the method you will like to receive your funds with and get
back to me so that we can proceed on this matter.
PAYMENT CENTER
Mr. Paul Ahmed
Funds Remittance Department
City Bank Plc Abuja Ngeria
Email: paulahmed02@yahoo.co.jp
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