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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.
Fraud email example:
From: "GLYNN WARD" <glynnwa@live.com>
Reply-To: bello875@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:22:40 -0400
Subject: PAYMENT NOTIFICATION.
UNITED NATION FACT FINDING AND APPROVAL OF FOREIGN DEBT PAYMENT
(WORLD BANK ASSISTED PROGRAMME)
DIRECTORATE OF INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT AND TRANSFERS.
UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS FIRST AVENUE, NEW YORK 10017
WIRE TRANSFER/AUDIT UNIT
Our Ref: WB/NF/UN/XX027.
ATTN: BENEFICIARY!
We have actually been authorized by the governing board of United Nations,the
British government with the help of the World Bank to investigate the
unnecessary delay of your inheritance/contract payment of ($10MUSD).As we
found out with dismay that you have almost met all the statutory requirements
in Respect of your pending payment, a lot of people are interested in your
payment And those people are merely doing paper works with you and that
explains why you receive fax and phone messages from different people
everyday. To forestall this security for your funds remittance,You are advised
to furnish us with this below information:
(1) Your full name
(2) Address
(3)Personal Cell phone /fax and mobile
(4) Company Name
(5) Occupation/position
(6) Age and Marital Status
(7) copy of your Int'l passport /driver's license if available
(8)equity line of credit {yes}or {no}
We expect your urgent response to this email to enable process and make your
payment to you without further delays as we shall monitor this payment
effectively.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Mrs. Glynn Ward
Senior Special assistant to
MR. BAN KI-MOON
Secretary general
United Nations,New York.
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Anti-fraud resources:
