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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge sum of money" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- ben4owusu@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Rev Ben Owusu" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ben4owusu@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 18:59:47 +0100
Subject: WILLING TO HELP
The Desk Of Rev. Ben Owusu
Auditing And Accounting Unit.
Foreign Remittance Dept.
International Commercial Bank Ltd
Accra-Ghana.
Dear Friend?
I am Rev. Ben Owusu a citizen of Ghana working for the International Commercial Bank Ltd, Accra-Ghana
Branch.This is a Business proposition for your involving a huge sum of money(11.5M US Dollars). I
want to move the funds out of my Bank but am seeking for your help and cooperation.40% of the said fund
will be yours, 10% will be for the expenses it may take to get to you and then the remaining 50% will be
for me and my colleagues.Please reply me back. Please keep this very confidential and forward to me in your
response the following information below: contact me with My Private email address[ben4owusu@gmail.com]
Am awaiting to hearing from you.
1. Full Name
2. Your Telephone Number and Fax Number
3. Your Contact Address.
4. Location.
Thank you in advance and may God bless you and your
family.
Sincerely,
Rev.Ben Owusu.
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Anti-fraud resources:
