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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)
- "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)
- "economic and financial crime commission" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "(efcc)" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "abuja" (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: "MR IBRAHIM LAMORDE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <efccremittanceoffice@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:45:39 +0100
Subject: ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIME COMMISSION (EFCC)
ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIME COMMISSION (EFCC)
GARKI 2 WUSE ABUJA
NIGERIA
Ref No: EF/O1/CC/O11
Date: 21-08-2009
>From The Desk Of
Mr Ibrahim Lamorde
Chairman Information Economic & Financial
Crime Commission (EFCC).
Attn: Beneficiary,
We understand that you are one of the contractors and inheritor
whose funds has been approved and amounted to be US$3.5m
(Three million, five hundred thousand United States dollars)
has been pending for so long and some
hoodlums have been using this opportunity to get money
from you using the name of top personnel in our country.
Please forgive us for the inefficiency but we promise
to make sure that you receive your entire fund and
also get the culprits arrested immediately.
Please you have to reply this mail immediately you get
it so that we will direct you to the bank where your
fund is at the moment and I promise to make sure
you receive your money in less than 48 hours after
this mail has been read and replied.
Please also send your direct telephone / fax number to
enable us execute this transfer.
Thanks and God Bless.
Mr Ibrahim Lamorde
Executive Information Chairman (EFCC)
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Anti-fraud resources:
