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:
  • "million united states 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)
  • "this business is hitch free " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: evans ahmed <evans_ahmed33@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: antonysalomi_two_2@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 10:50:22 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: REPLY


Attention: Sir

My name is Mr Evans Ahmed,The Manager International Commercial Bank Ghana
I am writing in respect of a foreign customer of our bank with account number
14-255- 114 whose name is Late Mr. William Bryant, who perished in a plane crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 which crashed on January 31 2000, including his wife and only daughter. You shall read more about the crash on visiting this site which I got during my investigation; http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list
Since the demise of this our customer, I personally has watched with
keen interest to see the next of kin but all has proved abortive as no
one has come to claim his funds of US$12.5 million United States Dollars) which has been with our branch for a very long time. On this note, I decided to seek for whom his name shall be used as the Next of Kin as no one has come up to be the next of kin. And the banking ethics here does not allow such money to stay
more than Ten Years, because the money will be recalled to the bank
treasury as unclaimed fund after this period. In view of this I got
your contact through a trade journal when i was making a research on a
foreigner i will use in this great opportunity. For your assistant i
will give you 30% of the total amount then 10% has been maped out to
donate to the motherless baby home, while the remaining 60% will be for
me. Upon the receipt of your response, I will send you
by fax or e-mail the letter of application which you will type sign and
send back to our bank to enable us start this transaction. I will not
fail to bring to your notice that this business is hitch free and that
you should not entertain any fear as all modalities for the smooth and
easy transfer of this fund has been finalized, this transaction will be
completed within five banking days of recieving your response, after
you apply to the bank as a relation to the deceased. When you receive
this letter, kindly send me an e-mail signifying your decision
including your private Tel/Fax numbers for quick communication.

Yours Sincerely,
Evans Ahmed.


---------------------------------
What kind of emailer are you? Find out today - get a free analysis of your email personality. Take the quiz at the Yahoo! Mail Championship.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam