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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mis. A. Ghazi." <msag555@gmail.com>
Reply-To: msamal_gz@live.com
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:31:49 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Soliciting for your Assistance
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am quite sure that this email will surprise you since we did not know each other before. But I searched & got your contact through Google.com for formal Introduction, I am Ms. Amal Ghazi, Formal Protocol officer to late Mo’tassim Gaddafi.
My reason of contacting you is because I am looking for a Trustworthy person that I can present to the bank as the owner/ beneficiary of US$12.3M fix deposit in one of the Banks in United Kingdom. This was made during one of our trips last 2years to European countries in a mission to purchase arm and ammunition for the ousted regime during the uprising in Libya.
Reply via e-mail if you can handle this clam on my behalf. More details will be given to you on how the claim of this fund will be done in your name.
Regards
Ms. Amal Ghazi
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Anti-fraud resources:
