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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Johnson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <makanajohnsonbox@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 5 Jun 2009 09:12:08 +0430
Subject: BETTER INVESTMENT FROM MAKANA
I am Mr. Makana Johnson A manager with one of the major
banks in South Africa.
I am in a position to Move a chunk of money out of the vault
of my bank although legally. The money was owned by a
customer who died long ago and we couldn't get
trace of anyone to claim his money, despite desperate
search for a next of kin.
The rules and ethics of our banking regulations demands
that, after 8yrs of unclaimed funds (money) the
money would be forfeited to the Bank and declared surplus
and paid into the states accounts.
Since I am the manager who is in charge of
this unclaimed money, I have perfected legaly means of
making you stand as the next of kin to the late fellow
as a foreigner.
This is risk free as all legal backings are present and
would be detailed to you once I have gained your
trust and certainty that we can be friends and trust in
you. You would be handsomely rewarded with 30% of the
total sum.
I will disclose some vital information about the late owner
0f the funds and how he died and the name
of my bank once I have gained your trust. I expect your
utmost response to this email.
Please in your reply let me have your contact telephone
numbers so I can call you and explain more to you.
Makana JohnSon
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Anti-fraud resources:
