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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:
- "please indicate your interest" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- courtneybailey73@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Courtney Bailey" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <courtneybailey73@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:23:21 +0700
Subject: Attn: Please
Attn: Please
I am pleased to solicit your sincere and urgent assistance over this
matter, my name is Courtney Bailey. I am arranging to come over to
your country with some large sum of money which i planned to invest
with your 100% assistance. However, I do not know any investor in your
country who I may trust to handle the business for me as I am a
foreigner and will likely travel back to my country as soon as formal
agreement is signed and the funds invested in a viable business of
your choice.
Secondly, I want to know what is required to bring in a large amount
of money to your country, I have a reliable contact that can guarantee
safety delivery to your place. Could you please indicate your interest
to work with me for this purpose? I want you to let me know the
business you planned to invest the funds and what i should be
expecting for the period of 5 years. I am prepared to give you 5% of
the total sum before investment and 30% of the profit realized for 5
years.
I will inform my attorney to prepare a memorandum of understanding
which we should sign on my arrival. I am in need of your response to
this arrangement to enable me find out the situation regarding the
amount someone can bring into the country although i don’t think it is
going to be a problem because of my contacts.
Please get back to me as soon as possible through my private email
address: courtneybailey73@gmail.com for us to discuss further.
Respectfully,
Courtney Bailey.
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