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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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "00,000.00" (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 email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
- 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.
- +2348037748304 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
- +2347065178802
Fraud email example:
From: SOUTH AFRICA 2010 WORLD CUP PROMOTION <result_news71@msn.com>
Reply-To: <chartered_remittancebnk@live.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2009 18:54:22 +0000
Subject: NOTIFICATION OF YOUR WINNING CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE WON!!!!
FROM THE DESK OF MRS ANGELA C. ELVIS
LOTTERY BID IN SOUTH AFRICA 2010 WORLD CUP.
Serial Number: 97560.
Winning Number: 60/84/27/17/36 Ticket Number: B9665 75604546199
Cash File: KPC/9030108308/03. DEAR: Winner
Congratulation" you have won GBP £500,000.00 (Five Hundred
Thousand British Pounds Sterling Only) in the 2nd category to the draw of Microsoft corp. And South African 2010 World cup bid lottery Award
Your
Email address has been therefore approved to claim a total Sum of GBP
500,000.00 attached to winning Number: 60/84/27/17/36 with a ticket
Number: B9665 75604546 199 and Serial Number: 97560. With Cash
File:KPC/9030108308/03. In the just concluded draw held to promote
South African 2010 World Cup. We are forwarding this winning to your
notification/claim.
Please call or contact your claim Bank through e-mail,
DR SIMON MILLET
Telephone: +2348037748304, +2347065178802
Bank Name: STANDARD CHARTERED BANK OF NIGERIA
Email:chartered_remittancebnk@live.com
Give your Claim this information's below for processing of your payment
NAME:
ADDRESS:
NATIONALITY:
SEX:
AGE:
PHONE/MOBILE: FAX:
COMPANY: OCCUPATION:
FILE NUMBER:
Yours Sincerely,
MRS ANGELA C. ELVIS
Co-ordinator
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Anti-fraud resources:
