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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:
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "larrysmith2010@live.co.uk" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "larrysmith2010@live.co.uk" (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: larry smith <larrysmith2010444444@live.co.uk>
Reply-To: larrysmith2010@live.co.uk
Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:13:42 -0300
Subject: LONG OVER DUE CONTRACT FUND PAYMENT
Attn: Kindly send your reply to (larrysmith2010@live.co.uk)
The Central Bank of Nigeria is closing the LONG OVER DUE CONTRACT FUND
PAYMENT for the year and they have given only few days for final
Details of the fund transfer not exceeding 72 hours.
At this point, Note that you must not make any mistake the CBN is
paying the sum of US$8.6 Million to various CONTRACTORS to the stated
issue. Also you will have to pay the sum of (US$ 105, 00) before the fund
will be released to you.
The fee which is (US$ 105, 00) required from you is standing for
the REACTIVATION of the ACCOUNT holding the fund.
Re-confirm with me the below information's
Full Name...........
Address.............
Cell#...............
Home#...............
I wait your response; this Transaction is 100% risk free.
Best regards
Mr.Larry Smith Email:(larrysmith2010@live.co.uk)
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Anti-fraud resources:
