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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:
- "into your nominated bank account" (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)
- "million united states dollars" (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)
- "executive governor" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "thecbngovernor@fastwebmail.it" (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: "CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrsanusilamidosanusi@centrum.sk>
Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:44:13 -0700
Subject: YOUR OVER DUE INHERITANCE/ CONTRACT FUND PAYMENT
ATTENTION , YOUR FUND PAYMENT UPDATE
I write to notify you of your overdue fund inheritance / overdue contract payment with the central bank of Nigeria which has be approved by the ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA to be paid to you. The total amount approved for your payment is the sum of $15m (FIFTEEN MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS). This fund will be paid to you through a United Nations appointed bank THE AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK PLC. The AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BNK PLC HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO PAY YOUR FUND TO YOU IN HE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA AND THE UNITED NATIONS. The central bank of Nigeria has been mandated to contact you and inform you of their readiness to pay your approved fund to you through the UN recognised bank to bank wire transfer into your nominated bank account any where in the world . To this, you are hereby advised to re-confirm your details as follows………….
1) YOUR FULL NAME.......
2) HOMEADDRESS....
3) DIRECT PHONE/OFFICE..........
4) AGE/OCCUPATION..........
5) BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS AND BANK ADDRESS.........
6)YOUR DRIVING LICENSE..............
As soon as we receive your reconfirmation of your details as above, we will immediately proceed with processing your fund payment and further details will be communicated to you as regarding your fund payment. Get back to me as soon as you read my mail to enable us proceed.
BEST REGARDS
Mallam Sanusi Lamido.
New Executive Governor CBN.
PRIVATE EMAIL: thecbngovernor@fastwebmail.it
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