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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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)
- "there is no risk involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Engr. Austen Oniwon" <nogogideon8@gmail.com>
Reply-To: austono@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2014 10:54:20 +0100
Subject: urgent
Dear Friend,
My name is Engineer Austen Oniwon . I am the immediate past Group
Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. I
got your contact from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and The Ministry
of International Trade and Industry. I need your help to transfer
US$3.5 Million dollars.
The money is part of the profits from our last year (2012). I have
already submitted annual report for last year to the minister, and
they did not notice the excess profits. I deposited the US$3.5 Million
dollars in an escrow account without a beneficiary (Anonymous) to
avoid any trace.
I cannot be directly connected to this money because I still work
with the Corporation as adviser to the minister. So, I need your help
to transfer this money to your country for me and you to share. I
offer you 45% of this money as my foreign partner and 55% would be for
me. There is no risk involved because it will be a bank-to-bank
transfer.
All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this
transaction through. Should you be interested and willing to help
Kindly confirm your details.
Please for further information and inquiries feel free to contact me
back immediately for more explanation and better understanding.
Sincerely,
Engineer. Austen Oniwon.
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Anti-fraud resources:
