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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "hundred thousand united state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Song Li"<song@Hangsengbank.com.hk>
Reply-To: <abintylile@googlemail.com>
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 22:57:13 -0700
Subject: reply me
Dear Sir/Madam,
I'm the account manager of an Iraqi Colonel who was with the Iraqi forces and also businessman. He made a numbered fixed deposit for 18 calendar months, with a value of Twenty Four millions six Hundred Thousand United State Dollars only in my branch. Upon maturity several notices was sent to him, even during the war which began in 2005. Again after the war another notification was sent and still no response came from him. We later found out that the Colonel along with his wife and only daughter had been killed during the war in a bomb blast that hit their home.
I do need your assistance in making this proposal a reality. I intend to give 30% of the total amount as compensation for your assistance. I will notify you on the full transaction on receipt of your response if interested, and I shall send you the details and necessary procedures with which to make the transfer. If you deem capable of performing these duties, we will want you to send us your details as soon as possible or the following information
I) Your Full Name
II) Contact Address
III) Telephone Number.
IV) Present Occupations
V) Country
Thank you so very much for having the patient and time to read this email. I will be looking forward to hear from you.
Yours faithfully
Head of Operations
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Anti-fraud resources:
