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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.
- basadortobeninrepublicu@africamail.com (Africamail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "US AMBASSADOR BENIN REPUBLIC" <US.Ambasado@usa.com>
Reply-To: basadortobeninrepublicu@africamail.com
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 16:01:32 +0100 (CET)
Subject: i wait your urgent response
Good day to you
The reason why you have not heard from me for while is that the bank
requested that the total expenses this transaction is going to cost you
the sum of $20, 000, 00
And I know that you can not be able to afford such amount of money, but I
have being able to get a financer who base in Canada which has promise to
loan you the required fee.
Note that the financer is going to take 15% out of your total fund, once
your total fund cleared into your bank account.
The reason why I got this financer is to notify you that this sum $1.5
million is real and to made you know that you are not deal with scammers.
If you are satisfied with the above directives kindly send your personal
information such as
Your home address ……
Your telephone number…
And also your zip code…
I will be waiting to hear from you
RESPECTFULLY YOURS,
MR. WILLIAM LAWRENCE (EMAIL ADDRESS: (basadortobeninrepublicu@africamail.com)
US AMBASSADOR TO BENIN REPUBLIC
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Anti-fraud resources:
