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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 beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "westerrn.union@w.cn" (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: "Ansha" <uyhjnb4432223@uniwersytetdzieci.pl>
Reply-To: <anthonyansha@w.cn>
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 02:18:49 -0700
Subject: INVESTIGATION ON YOUR PAYMENT FILE
Dear Beneficiary,
INVESTIGATION ON YOUR PAYMENT FILE
Investigation on your payment file and reason for delaying your payment since its approved is what we do not understand, please are you still alive or dead? Did you sign any dead assignment in favor of Mr. John Smith to receive your fund on your behalf?
Re-confirm to us immediately to avoid paying your fund to a wrong person as your over due payment is now ready in the desk of Mr. Jeffrey Patrick of intercontinental bank the officer in charge of your payment. His email id is westerrn.union@w.cn
Contact him immediately for verification.
Reply immediately for confirmation to avoid paying your funds to wrong hands.
Truly,
Mr Anthony Ansha,
Chief Investigation Officer.
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Anti-fraud resources:
