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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:
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "remain blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "PAYMENT COMMITTEE REVIEW PANEL =?iso-8859-1?b?rg==?="
<wamamailbox@sify.com>
Reply-To: remittanceoffice00@yahoo.cn
Date: Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:17:45 +0200
Subject: EXCHANGE CONTROL APPROVAL NOTICE
PAYMENT COMMITTEE REVIEW PANEL ®
Attention:
The Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI) contacted us regarding your
cash money lingering in our office since last year. They contacted us
two days ago due the allocated security code label on it and other
scam reported cases. We are told that you are yet to receive your cash
payment till date; therefore your particulars have been received by
PAYMENT COMMITTEE REVIEW PANEL. Benin-Cotonou, where your names is
listed for payment. We have contacted the Federal Ministry Of Finance
on your behalf and they have brought a solution to your problem by
coordinating your payment via online transfer or through ATM PAYMENT
CARD if you wish. You are expected to reconfirmed to them the amount
your are expecting to receive and also to reconfirm the below
information for due process:
FULL NAME: FULL CONTACT ADDRESS: MOBILE PHONE NUMBER: OCCUPATION:
MARITAL STATUS AND AGE:
As soon as this information is received, you are also expected to
comply with the requirements payment of the allocation security code.
After this, your payment will be effected accordingly. In order to
claim your payment, please contact the Bank Of Africa (BOA) PAYMENT
Solicitors Fund Verification dept, for further directives on this
Email: boa.benin1@w.cn Contact Person: Mr. Otis Newton. You are free
to log into the paying bank website for an online transfer into your
bank account in your location.
Thanks and Remain Blessed
Dr. Chris G. Lamb
Secretary General
PAYMENT COMMITTEE REVIEW PANEL ®
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Anti-fraud resources:
