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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- 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.
- henrysuperpost@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Richard Ben." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <henrysuperpost@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2012 14:58:40 -0000
Subject: YOUR ATM CARD
Dear Friend,
I want to inform you that delivery of your ATM VISA CARD worth sum of US$2.5Million is ready. I spoke with Mr. Henry Ama of ATM DEPARTMENT this morning and he told me that your ATM CARD is ready and what he need from you is your current address where to send the CARD such as:
1-Home or Office Address:
2-Country:
3-City:
4-State:
5-Telephone Number:
6-Zipcode:
He told me that DHL COST of delivery is different from Post Office. DHL cost is (US$180.00) for 3-days delivery and your Tracking details will be given to you so that you will be monitoring the delivery movement while POST OFFICE cost of delivery here is (US$98.00) only.
Please I want you to make your choice of one of the above costs and contact Mr. Terry for urgent action so that he could register your ATM CARD for delivery. Make sure you send him your current address as listed above. Here is his contact address:
Mr. Henry Ama
ATM DPT ACCRA GHANA.
Tel: +233241026337
E-mail: henrysuperpost@hotmail.com
I wait for your reply once you contact him.
Thanks,
Mr. Richard Ben.
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Anti-fraud resources:
