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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:
- "diplomatic delivery" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: REV FATHER BEN NWOSU <revbenwosu01@virgilio.it>
Reply-To: revfatherbennwosu011@live.com
Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:13:59 +0100 (CET)
Subject: Att:Beneficiary
Att:Beneficiary
We are sorry,for the delay of your payment and all the
inconveniences.The
management of the above mentioned bank are to use this
opportunity to inform
you that we are very surprised to see that you have not
received and confirmed
your $10.5M since it has been approved for payment to
you since early
this year 2010. You are going to receive your fund throw our
Diplomatic Delivery
(Cash Payment).Please re-comfirm your information
Rev Ben
Nwosu
Chairman AdminDept of CBN
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Anti-fraud resources:
