joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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:
  • "huge amount of money" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money)
• 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.
  • +447040114029 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mervyn King" <info_00@msn.com>
Reply-To: mervynkingjr15@o2.pl
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 13:07:30 +0000
Subject: FROM MR MERVYN KING

FROM MR MERVYN KING
GOVERNOR,BANK OF ENGLAND
UNITED KINGDOM
+447040114029
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/overview.htm

My Dear ,
I'm sorry for not seeking your permission before directing this proposal to
you.I am MR MERVYN KING the GOVERNOR ,BANK OF ENGLAND .What I have for you
is an urgent transaction that involves the sum of GBP30M.We discovered this
huge amount of money in our bank deposited by our foreign customer who died
in an aircrash on November 15, 2000 with his family when Antonov plane
crashes in Angola, leaving 41 dead .
{http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/africa/12/11/angola.planecrash.ap/}.
All effort to get at the nearest next of kins to this man prove abortive.

However,As the GOVERNOR of the BANK,I have decided with the concept of my
Deputy Governors ,{Sir Andrew Large and Rachel Lomax } in the office and
with the assistance of a foriegner to use the documents in my office and
transfer this money out of the country and share it among ourselves. We have
tried to get this money out of the bank but could not as it requires an
assistance of a foriegner who will recieve this money on our behalf.It is at
this point that we made up our mind to reach out to you ;so that you could
assist us recieve this money in your our country as soon as it is
transfered.

We have agreed to make an offer of 30% of the total fund to you if you would
assist us in this transaction.I will like to state here that there is no
form of risk involved in this transaction on your own side as a foreigner
.As soon as you confirmed that it has arrived to your location,I and my
colleagues will be in your country to share it as we have stated earlier on.
Get back to me as soon as possible through email or you can give me a call
in my cell phone number for more clarification.Where you could not be able
to call me,kindly forward your own number,I will be glad to call you after
office work to explain this well to you.
Thanks and remain blessed.
MR MERVYN KING
GOVERNOR,BANK OF ENGLAND
UNITED KINGDOM

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam