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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:
- "might come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Miss Sarah Diarra <miss.sarahd51@msn.com>
Reply-To: <sarah.diarra2010@yahoo.fr>
Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2010 08:01:04 +0000
Subject: From Miss Sarah Diarra,
>From Miss Sarah Diarra,
I know that this mail might come to you as a surprise because you don't know me and I don't know you too. I am Miss Sarah Diarra, 20 years old an orphan from Ivory Coast. Only child/Daughter of Mr./ Mrs. Christopher Diarra, the formal director of International Cocoa Organization in Cote D'Ivoire, before the death of my dear beloved father he deposit the sum of 2.5 million USD left in one of the prime bank here in my country ivory coast. which was made by my father before he died in Oct 2006.
I seek your permission to remit this amount to your account in your country so that I could come over to your country for investment and to further my Education. I am willing to offer you 20% of the total sum for your desire to assist me.
Please do respond immediately you receive this mail for more information regarding the fund.
My Best Regards.
Miss Sarah Diarra.
Contact me immediately for more details.
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Anti-fraud resources:
