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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "the consignment" (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)
- "trunk box" (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)
- "consignment " (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)
- "trunk boxes" (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)
- "robert mugabe" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a orphan scam.
Fraud email example:
From: susan martins <susan10090@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:40:38 +0100
Subject: PROPOSAL
Dear Sir/Madam,
Let me introduce myself, my name is Susan Martins and I was born in
Zimbabwe and my father was a Gold dealer but because of the political
problem in my country, the president Robert Mugabe order is men to
kill my father and immediately I and my mother had the news we run to
Ghana to stay in a refugee camp and my late father deposited
$6.7million usd in a security company in Ghana and the money is inside
two trunk boxes.
My late father as an agreement with the security company that if he
pass away the consignment boxes will not be release to me or my mother
but a foreign beneficiary/partner that will invest it in oversea. Then
I and my mother we live Africa to start a new life in abroad.
If you can help us get the money out of Africa, we are going to give
you 25%percenatge from the total amount in the boxes.
The document that my late father uses to deposit the consignment boxes
is with us.
Hoping to hear from you.
Best Regards.
Susan Martins
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Anti-fraud resources:
