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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- cbn.gov.org@financier.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Partnership" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <cbnregulatedprocess@consultant.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2014 10:26:37 -0400
Subject: Urgent Need
To your attention,
My name is Jacobs Ellis, i am citizen of Jerusalem in Israel and currently i am working with Central Bank of Nigeria and with 25 year working experience with CBN. My position is Chief Engineer in the Remittance Department of CBN.
I am in urgent need of your partnership to execute a lucrative business transaction for mutual benefit. A deceased customer left outstanding fund valued $58.5million in our offshore bank account in Ever Green Federal Bank of America. The Bank has assigned me to locate nearest relative of the deceased customer. I know fully well that he has no relative by the time of his death. I would like to present you as the nearest relative of the deceased to the bank so that we can inheritance his fortunes. The particulars of fund will be sent to you for your perusal and some datas will be changed to your personal name. Be assured that fund will be transferred to your private account without any risk or hitch. Once you receive the fund, 60% will be for me and 40% for you at the end.
If you are interested kindly get back to me with your full name, address and Telephone number on email below:
Email: cbn.gov.org@financier.com
Telephone: +234-706-533-0883
I will brief you more on this transaction as soon as i hear from you.You are my first contact I shall wait for days and if I do not hear from you I shall continue with my search for a reliable partner.
Sincerely,
Jacobs Ellis.
Chief Engineer
Remittance Departemnt CBN.
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Anti-fraud resources:
