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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "anti-drug certificate" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "cashier's check" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "LOTTERY WINNING NOTIFICATION" (may be fake)
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 14:53:36 -0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS LOTTERY WINNER
This e-mail has been issued to you in order to Officially inform you that we have completed an investigation on an International Payment in which was issued to you by World Bank. With the help of our newly developed technology (International Monitoring Network System) we discovered that you were not able to complete your transfer because of the amount involved. During our investigation we discovered that your fund ($11 million) is still available and we have authorized the fund to be paid to you via a Certified Cashier's Check, ATM or Via Wire Transfer.
You were asked to provide Anti-Terrorism and Anti-Drug Certificate which you never did and that has led to suggestion that you might be sponsoring Terrorism nor Drug.On that note We urge you to open the attached file named FBI FILE and then click RUN to view which yoot give you access to winning number for the lottery as we need to confirm you have the correct number for collection at any of our stations near you.
We therefore urge you to open the attached file named winning number and then click RUN to view which you would find inside the winning number attached.The file is encrypted so you need not worry.
I want you to proceed now and open the attached winning number then click on RUN to view your winning number and collection point.Attached is your winning number.
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Anti-fraud resources:
