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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:
- "activation fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "onlineaccountactivation10@live.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "GT Bank PLC" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <accountatctivation10@live.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:15:20 +0100
Subject: EMAIL US FOR YOUR ACCOUNT ACTIVATION
Dear beneficiary,
After a proper screening and verification excises that was conducted in our Bank today in addition to receiving confirmation from the UN and The ECOWAS Online Promotional board, that you are one of the promo winners of 1.1 Million USD.
Your winnings funds is deposited in our transit account you have to open an online account with us before we can activate your online account for you to have access to withdraw or transfer your funds online.
It will cost you $100 to activate your online; I will advise you to get back to us as soon as possible so we can send you our banking application form and the details on how to make the payment for your online account activation fee.
Please contact us with this email address only Email: (onlineaccountactivation10@live.com) for more information’s.
Mr. Cottrell Davison
MGR, E-Business & Card Services
GT Bank Tel: +234-704-439-5538
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Anti-fraud resources:
