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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- This email message is a orphan scam.
Fraud email example:
From: ahmed mutaka <ahmedmutaka@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 16:21:16 -0700
Subject: HELLO YOUR HELP IS NEEDED
Hello
I am Ahmed Mutaka i am a refugee from Sudan i arrived Ghana last
week i was at the kotoka airport when i met a General and i told
him my problems and he told me to write you if you can help me.
My late father before his death deposited a box of gold in a security
company here in Ghana so i came down to claim as i am the next of kin,
but i was made to understand that by the agreement between my father
and the company was that the gold was to be given to a foreign
beneficiary.
All my effort to find my father"s partner have been a failure
so i decided to look elsewhere,so when i met Gen Danquah he told me
that you are into real estates and it will be wise if you agree to
help claim the box of gold and invest it there in your country so i
decided to write.
If you help me and the gold gets to you i am willing to give
you 30% of the entire gold that is in the box,Please i want you to
help me because i do not have any family left they were killed during
the war in my country all i want is to get this gold and leave Africa
to a more peaceful place where i can go back to school and complete my
education as i am still very young.
I hope to hear from you soon attached to this mail is a copy of
the deposit certificate my father used to deposit the gold in the
security company.
warmest Regards
Ahmed Mutaka
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Anti-fraud resources:
