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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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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)
- "million 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)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "cheque " (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 "New Partner from Paraguay" scam.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
- 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.
- chrisuba1975@yahoo.fr (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Howard Berry <howard.berry01@orange.nl>
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:06:20 +0100 (CET)
Subject: Good News.
DEAR FRIEND,
HOW HAVE YOU BEEN? I DID NOT FORGET YOUR PAST EFFORT IN ASSISTING ME IN OUR MULTI MILLION DOLLARS CONTRACT TRANSACTION WHICH FAILED DUE TO UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES.
I AM VERY DELIGHTED TO INFORM YOU THAT I HAVE SUCCEEDED IN GETTING THOSE FUNDS TRANSFERRED UNDER THE CO-OPERATION OF A NEW PARTNER FROM GERMANY, NOW I WANT YOU TO CONTACT MY SECRETARY ON THE INFORMATION BELOW AND RECEIVE YOUR COMPENSATION OF $1.2 MILLION US DOLLARS FROM HIM:
NAME: MR CHRIS UBA
EMAIL: chrisuba1975@yahoo.fr
SEND HIM THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION'S TO PROVE YOUR SELF TO HIM:
YOUR FULL NAME:
YOUR ADDRESS:
YOUR COUNTRY:
YOUR OCCUPATION:
YOUR PHONE NUMBER:
NOTE THAT IF YOU DID NOT SEND HIM THE ABOVE INFORMATION COMPLETELY, HE WILL NOT RELEASE THE CHEQUE TO YOU BECAUSE HE HAS TO BE SURE THAT I T IS YOU.ASK HIM TO SEND YOU THE TOTAL SUM OF $1.2 MILLION US DOLLARS CASHIER'S CHEQUE, WHICH I KEPT FOR YOU.
FURTHERMORE I WILL NOT BE REACHED BY EMAIL OR PHONE FOR NOW BECAUSE I AM CURRENTLY IN JAPAN FOR INVESTMENT PROJECTS WITH MY OWN SHARE AND I WILL BE BUSY TILL ABOUT SIX MONTHS TIME OR A YEAR.SO FEEL FREE AND CONTACT HIM WITHOUT DELAY.
REGARDS,
BARRISTER HOWARD BERRY
Anti-fraud resources:
