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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "trunk box" (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.)
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "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. )
- "certified bank draft" (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.
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: johnemene@freenet.de
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:49:14 +0100
Subject: Contact the Fedex Company immediately for your package
Dear Friend,
I have paid the needed fee for your Certified Bank Draft
Cheque,But the manager of Eco Bank Benin told me that before the cheque
will get to you that it will expire, and so I asked him to cash the
$1,500 000 00 and He did ,Now all the necessary arrangement of
delivering the sum in cash to you was made with Fedex Courier
Company,and this is the information they need to deliver your package to
you.
Therefore you should send your information to the Fedex Company
immediately,along with the sum of $95 for the INSURANCE POLICY
CERTIFICATE of your package because your package was not insured.So
please do not disclose the content of the package to any one for
security reasons. Now contact the Fedex Company with following
information below.
Fedex Courier Company
Contact person, Ms. Roseline
Ugochi Ekanem
Administrative Dept.
E-MAIL: fedexpressbenin@yahoo.fr
1. YOUR FULL NAME
2. YOUR HOME ADDRESS.
3. YOUR CURRENT HOME TELEPHONE
NUMBER.
5. A COPY OF YOUR PICTURE
Remember I registered your
consignment trunk box with the Fedex Company as a personal effect,
therefore you must not disclose to them the really content in the trunk
Box,in order to avoid misfortune.
Sincerely
Barrister . Williams
Anti-fraud resources:
