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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Mike Williams <mikewilliams@redares.net>
Reply-To: mikewillims002@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:12:39 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: FROM MIKE WILIAMS URGENT.
FROM MIKE WILIAMS URGENT.
Mike Williams
345East Street,Off Old Kent Rd
SE17 2SX
London
Dear Friend,
To be precise i am a banker here in UK. Unfortunate one of my client who was a property magnate and building contractor passed away with his wife and only son in an air
disaster some years back.
Upon his death no body has lay a claim on the fund since the person (son)he provided as the next of kin died with him in the crash leaving a vacuum to be filled. The bankers had
planned to invoke the abandoned property decree of1936 to confiscate the funds after the expiration of a certain period.
It was in the light of this i contacted you considering that your surname is the same with my late client knowing obviously that you are not in any way related to my late client
The fund US$3.7 Million will be shared in the ratio of 50% for you, 40% will be meant for me while 10% to defray all cost arising in the execution of this transaction
I hereby assure you that this transaction is 100% risk free and will be conducted in legitimate manner without any financial bridge. You should trust me considering that i am my
late client account officer and financial adviser
Kindly contact me immediately by furnishing me with your complete Information
1)Your full names
2) Age,
3) Direct phone number
4) Mobile phone number
5) Nature of job/position,
6) Marital status
7)Addresss
On the receipt of your response I will send you the documents pertaining to the deposit of the fund and enagrge the service of an attorney to carry out the legal documentation
that will compel the bank to recognize you as the next of kin and release the fund
to you
Yours sincerely,
Mike Williams.
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