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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- andreharry_ci01@yahoo.co.jp (Yahoo, Japan; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Andre Harry <andre.harry@rediffmail.com>
Reply-To: andreharry_ci01@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2010 19:25:12 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Dearest one
Dearest one
My name is Rev Dr . Andre Harry, working in one of the essential banks in Republic of Ivory Coast . I wish to introduce you to a transaction that you should be anxious in a high esteem. There is one Mr. Alex Magnus, an American businessman that happens to die in a car accident eight years ago and none of his relatives or next of kin had showed to claim the fund that is deposited under our bank guard.
I noticed that some mean officers of the bank here are making arrangement to divert these funds nobody showed for the claim and these funds were in the account of order of this bank for almost ten years.
Without delays, I would want you come in the agreement with me to transfer these funds to your position and you will use the funds to help the less priviledge and the poor ones in the corporation. I will give the numbers of reference of this transaction to you that are the first secret and I will not want to disclose to anyone in the bank that I am involved.
Upon your acceptance to my proposal I will let you know how to proceed further in this transaction
Yours Sincerely,
Rev. Dr. Andre Harry.
Email: andreharry_ci01@yahoo.co.jp
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Anti-fraud resources:
