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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:
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: msg@isp.us
Reply-To: dwilson@superposta.com
Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:44:49 +0400
Subject: Greetings
HFC Bank Limited
Camden House West,The Parade,
Birmingham B1 3PY UK
Member HSBC
Greetings,
My name is Davis Wilson the Finance Director of HFC Bank Limited UK, I discovered a dormant account during our annual auditing exercise in my office and upon my further investigation it was revealed that this account has not been operated for quite a long time. This is because the account owner was death and left no next of kin to the claim and HFC Bank Limited is threatening to declare the account as ghost account meaning that fund will be confiscated.
It will be in my interest to transfer this fund worth USD20.5 million to an account outside UK and I have all the plans safely worked out and will need the co-operation of a foreign partner like you in order to successfully make this transfer since you have the same surname with the account owner. If you can assist in getting the money transferred, contact me immediately so that we can work together to get this done. I will secure all the required legal documents to success this transaction and I will need your following information to enable me proceed the procurement of the required legal documents which we enable this deal pass through legal authorities in UK and your country.
1. Full names
2. Valid address
3. Private telephone number
4. Cell phone
5. Age
6. Occupation
Remember this is absolutely confidential and note that you will be entitled to 40% while I who initiate the deal take 60%.
Best regards,
Mr. Davis Wilson
Group Finance Director
HFC Bank Limited UK
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