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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:
- "million united states dollars" (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)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "MR.RALPH BRIMLY." <info@cbn.org>
Reply-To: ralphbrimly20102010@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 09:08:07 +0800 (MYT)
Subject: FROM: MR.RALPH BRIMLY.
Attention: Beneficiaries.
This is to bring to your kind notice that the federal government of
Nigeria has approved the release of your long awaited payment of Ten
Million United States Dollars.
We the entire board of Central Bank of Nigeria has been instructed by the
board of presidency Nigeria and the Ministry of Finance to ensure the
release of your fund payment.You are therefore advised to quickly get back
to us with the below data to enable the commencement of your payment to
you without any further delay.
Your payment release will take only four working days as soon as we hear
from you.
We await the below details from you.
1.Your full names.
2.Your home and office address.
3.Your direct phone/fax number.
4.Your identification passport/driving license.
5.Your next of Kin.
6.Your age and occupation.
Reply accordingly.
Yours faithfully,
Mr. Ralph Brimly.
Director,International Operations Department,
Central Bank of Nigeria .
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Anti-fraud resources:
