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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:
- "hundred thousand united states 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)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "nigeria national petroleum corporation" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ahmed Aliu" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ahmedaliuprivate@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 12:22:35 -0800
Subject: From Engr Ahmed Aliu
>From Engr Ahmed Aliu
Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
Block 708b Falomo Close.
Victoria Island.
Lagos Nigeria.
I am Engr. Ahmed Aliu, the Director of the Foreign Operations in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. (NNPC)
Recently I awarded and over invoiced a contract project in my department to a foreign firm in Nigeria, the contract project has been completed awaiting to be commissioned, the account department of my corporation is about to send their invoice to the Central Bank of Nigeria for immediate payment to the Contractor
So my main reason of contacting you is for you to team up with me in order to claim the over invoiced amount together. I intend to forward your company’s name to our account department as a sister company to the Original Contractors to enable them approve the over invoiced amount to you (us)
The over invoiced amount is: $25,500 000 00 (Twenty Five Million Five hundred Thousand United States Dollars) only.
If you agree to work with me in order to receive this over invoiced amount in your bank account for our mutual benefit, please get back to me immediately with your full contact details including your phone and fax numbers so that I can explain further to you.
Thanks
Engr. Ahmed Aliu.
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Anti-fraud resources:
