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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:
- "to your nominated bank account" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "transfer of your funds" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned 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: "Mr Mark Kelvin" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrmark.kelvin@yahoo.cn>
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:14:37 -0600
Subject: IINTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
IINTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
23 HERBERT MARCULARY AVENUE
WUSE 2 GARKI ABUJA
FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY
Attention
How are you doing today? I hope you are doing great. I got your mail and i am happy to hear from you that you are alive and you did not send Mr David Deane and Mr Jack Morgan to claim your funds. I want you to know that i have given instructions to the authorities to get them arrested and persecute him according to the law for impersonation.
Now that i have heard from you that you are alive, i want you to know that i will have to commence with the transfer of your funds to your nominated bank account in your country. But before then, I want you to get back to me with the required information.
Full Name:
Age:
Sex:
Country:
Address:
Phone Number:
Occupation:
Marital Status:
I wait to hear from you with the above informations.
Regards
Mr Mark Kelvin
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Anti-fraud resources:
