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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:
- "chief auditor" (the name of a person or institution often appearing 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: "YOU MUST READ THIS" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <liz0wil@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:09:31 -0000
Subject: FANTASTIC BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
I am MARK MORRISON Chief Auditor to One of the foremost Arabian Banks.
I am currently in New York City attending a very important meeting concerning the future of our bank.
Obviously from the results of the meeting today our bank is going under and will be declared bankrupt anytime soon as a result of the effect of the recent Global Crises that Hit the Economy of the world and the aftermath of the nefarious activities that went on in the US and other countries.
As a result of this the Directors and Czars of the Banks are making plans to convert all unclaimed deposits of Gold, Cash, Assets and all treasures of the Bank to their personal benefits before this collapse.
Please do reply me immediately on with your full contact details most importantly you Mobile number so I can call you for more information that I cannot divulge Online here and better communication and interaction.
Thanks in anticipation for your prompt response.
Mark Morrison
+19173382961
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Anti-fraud resources:
