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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "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)
- "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)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "diplomatic immunity" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- "paulkinbros01@yahoo.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "MR PAUL KIN" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <paulkinbros02@yahoo.cn>
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 22:30:21 +0800
Subject: I NEED YOUR TRUST AND HONESTY
ATTENTION,
I am writting to inform you that i am Mr Paul Kin the manager of logistics
and clearance department of the STANDARD TRUST AND FINANCE LTD GUANGZHOU
CHINA. My office is incharge of accounts records and information of foreign
contractual award comittee of the federal republic of China and as a result,
there was a recent contract awarded to an American merchant company on road
constructions in 2007 which amounted to $230m dollars and my colleagues and
i were able to over inflate the amount to $250 m dollars and the job has
been successfully done and the original contractor has been paid off.
Now the balance of the $20m dollars have been kept with the Bank of China
and we have already arranged with a bank diplomats to move the fund
to Madrid Spain through a diplomatic immunity means on thursday 17th
october,2009 as we want to invest this money in Europe and we needed a very
honest person that will assist us to receive the consignment of the $20m
dollars in Spain. We will give you 25% of the total sum for your assistance
and we will send you all the necessary legality and authorization letter to
receive this fund in Spain.
Please contact me as quickly as possible as time is of essence and to
enable us arrange for a meeting in Spain. Be rest assured that this
transaction is 100% risk free and there is nothing to worry about.
Please feel free to contact me through my direct email for further details
and do send me your direct mobile number for easy communication.
Respect & Regards,
Name;Mr Paul Kin
Email; paulkinbros01@yahoo.cn
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