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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.
- 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.
- +27717529990 (South Africa, prepaid mobile phone)
- +27866623966 (South Africa, prepaid mobile phone)
Fraud email example:
From: KGR KGR <a_mukhs@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: charles.lundi@hotmail.com
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:41:24 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Contact Me Urgently
Dear sir,
I
am contacting you to seek your assistance and cooperation in the actualization of this rare
business opportunity.
This
important business opportunity must be handled confidentially and will
entail presenting you to a reputable bank as the beneficiary of some
investment funds.You will be required to claim and have the investment
funds transferred to your bank account.
Please read the attached letter and contact me
urgently if interested, on my telephone number:+2771-752-9990 or fax number:
+2786-662-3966.
Yours truly,
Charles Lundi,Esq
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Anti-fraud resources:
