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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:
- "philipdakota@9.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Philip Dakota <phldak@aol.com>
Reply-To: philipdakota@9.cn
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:08:21 +0700
Subject: A Text Message From Mr.Philip Dakota
With due respect,
I am Philip Dekota, a Banker and investment expert with a Bank in
Haiti before the earthquake that hit Haiti. I am sorry if I have
bumped into your privacy because we have not met before.
I have found myself in a situation that has made me to contact you in
this manner. The situation is not unconnected with the Earthquake that
has destroyed most part of my country. I have a propsal that involves
funds lying fallow that I will want to entrust in your hands if we can
come to an agreement on the issue and if you can prove to me that you
can be trusted.
Kindly respond to this mail if you will be able to accept legitimate
funds placed in deposit with a Safe deposit firm in Europe under a
descreet arrangement. There is a financial benefit attached to it for
you if we can come to an agreement.
I will give you the details if I hear from. Please keep this
correspondence confidential and discard it if you will not be able to
handle it. Hope to hear from you. Do contact through the following
email address for futher deatiles as earlier said.:philipdakota@9.cn
Sincerely,
Philip Dakota
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Anti-fraud resources:
