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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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Barclays Bank <thomas_douglas01@accountant.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:56:02 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: UNCLAIMED FUND
UNCLAIMED FUND
Attention Please,
I am an accountant in the Bills and Exchange of the Foreign Remittance Department of Barclays Bank Plc. I am writing to know if you can make a deal with me. I discovered an unclaimed inheritance funds in my bank and I will like to present you as the next of kin to the account so that it will be transferred to you after which we share accordingly.
Contact me if you are interested with your full details.
Thomas Douglas.
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Anti-fraud resources:
