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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:
- "million dollars" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr. Abdul Daniel" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <abduldaniel1145@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2014 21.10.12 +0100
Subject: Re: Immediate Transfer
Dear Sir/ Madam,
I am the chairman of the Contract Payment Review Panel and executive director of projects and engineering of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources Nigeria, I am in search of an agent to assist us in receiving the sum of Ten million dollars ($10M) remitted by Key Tested Telegraphic Transfer (K.T.T) to any foreign bank you will provide and subsequently invest the funds in properties, agriculture or in any other lucrative
venture in your country You shall take 30% of the total amount for assisting me.
If you are interested to assist me in this regard,You should please email me through my private mail account and supply me with the following particulars:
1. Your full name:
2. Contact Address:
3. Your company name and address(if any):
4. Telephone and fax numbers:
5. Your occupation:
6. Age:
So we can discuss the details of this transaction. Note that your area of specialization is not relevant for the successful execution of this transaction.
I await your reply to this mutually beneficial transaction.
Best wishes,
Dr. Abdul Daniel.
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Anti-fraud resources:
