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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:
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
- 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.
- mrpeterzongo@bk.ru (Bk; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Global Promotion International <gipp@sify.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:14:33 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Your E-mail won a prize check it
GLOBAL INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS / PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
REF:
YAHOO6/315116127/27
BATCH: 8254297137
Registered Lottery No
220949
ATTENTION: Email LUCKY Account Owner
We are pleased to inform
you that your e-mail address has
Won ($1,500,000.00) after the Global
International Programme held in
Burkina Faso on 20th February and release
26th February 2010.
Your e-mail ID emerged as one of the winners in the 1st
category.
Please fill the form below and send it to our payment department
with
The contact given below.
Name: Mr Peter Zongo
Email:
mrpeterzongo@bk.ru
PAYMENT PROCESSING FORM
1. Full Name:
2.
Full Address:
3. Status:
4. Occupation:
5. Phone Number:
6.
City:
7. Country:
8. Age:
9. Email:
Yours faithfully,
GLOBAL
PROMOTIONS
Your E-mail won a prize check
it
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Anti-fraud resources:
