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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:
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: Andrewcarson56@gmx.com
Date: Mon, 21 May 2012 08:33:18 +0400
Subject: INSTALMENTAL PAYMENT TO FOREIGN BENEFICIARY.
Hello dear,
We bring to your notice of the collective agreement to embark upon
payment installment to foreign beneficiary by the Presidency, Central
Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and West
Africa bank for
contract payments and inheritance claim. And the sum of 5.3M USD has
been allocated
to you as part payment. You are advised to contact the Presidential
committee on Finance and appropriation for your payment allocation
number and bank transfer reference code.
We have been briefed of your fruitless efforts and financial
commitment to claim your payment without success due to the activities
of impostors operating with various official?s names and positions in
government to defraud. The IMF has mandated the Nigerian government to
establish this committee for this purpose. We
are therefore under the obligation to deliver the above sum to your account.
Sincerely,
Andrew Carson.
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Anti-fraud resources:
