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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:
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "chambers" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: "ADNAN AL SHARIF" <non-reply@wowmail.com>
Reply-To: mb2531321@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:09:42 +0200
Subject: Re: Greetings To You
Good Day,
Your e-mail address came up in a random draw conducted by our law firm; Adnan
Al Sharif Law Chambers here in Scotland. My name is Adnan Al Sharif. A
personal Attorney to our late client Mr. Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong a Malaysia
citizen who built a hilltop casino in Malaysia (Genting Highland), Mr. Tan Sri
Lim Goh Tong a well known Philanthropist, before he died, he made a Will in
our law firm stating that $3M (Three Million U.S. dollars only) should be
donated to any Philanthropist of our choice in Asia or any part of the world
We have made a random draw and your name and e-mail address was picked as the
beneficiary to this Will. I am particularly interested in securing this money
from the Bank, because the holding bank have issued a notice instructing us to
produce the beneficiary of this Will within two weeks which happens to be you
or else the money will be credited to the Government treasury based on the law
here.
It is my utmost desire to execute the Will of our late client. You are
required to contact me immediately to start the process of transferring this
money to any of your designated official account. I urge you to contact me
immediately for further details bearing in mind that the Bank has given us a
date limit.
CONGRATULATIONS
Regards
BARRISTER ADNAN AL SHARIF [Esq.]
READ MORE ABOUT MY LATE CLIENT
http://thebiographychannel.blogspot.com/2007/11/tan-sri-lim-goh-tong-1918-23-october_23.html
Netasia WebMail
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Anti-fraud resources:
