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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)
- "atm payment department" (this phrase is often used in the ATM card payment scam)
- "million us 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)
- "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Barr.John World" <ocbank7@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "Barr.John World" <ocbank@naij.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 2016 21:13:03 +0900 (JST)
Subject: DEAR FRIEND,
DEAR FRIEND,
How are you today together with your family i hope every body is fine, you did not come down to my country here Benin Republic to pick your money ($10.8 million us dollars ) in a Bank draft as we fixed and i did not heard from you since that time as we arranged then I went and deposited the Bak Draft with THE OCEANIC BANK PLC OF BENIN REPUBLIC here in Benin Republic because I traveled to Saudi Arabia for medical check up i will not be back till next month ending.
I have arranged with the Bank to make your payment to you with their new ATM MASTER CARD which you can use to withdraw your money in any ATM machine around the globe at the maximum rate of $1085.00 us dollars (One thousand & Eight five US Dollars) per day.
You have to contact the OCEANIC BANK PLC OF BENIN REPUBLIC with your full contact information such as follows.
YOUR FULL NAME_____________________
YOUR HOME
ADDRESS____________________
YOUR COUNTRY______________________
YOUR PHONE NUMBER_________________________
A COPY OF YOUR PICTURE_____________________
However, kindly contact the below person who is in position to release your ATM MASTER CARD.
REV JEFF JOHN DIRECTOR,
ATM PAYMENT DEPARTMENT OCEANIC BANK PLC OF BENIN REPUBLIC.
PHONE MOBILE NUMBER +22968450649
I have paid for the delivery, stamp and insurance charges.The only Money that your are going to pay to them is only fee to reactivate your ATM MASTER CARD before sending it to you.
Try to contact them as soon as possible to enable them quicken the processing of your ATM CARD . Do Let me know as soon as you receive your ATM CARD.
Thanks
Barr.John World
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