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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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Chew" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tansengchew@email.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 11:20:07 +0800
Subject: Investment plan
I am Tan Seng Chew, a Treasury and Markets Officer in the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS). I write to contact you about an unclaimed deposit of US$45M I discovered in the investment account of our bank which was deposited by an investor who died in a collapsed building here in Singapore in 1986. View the website of the incident:
http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/about_us/history/maturing_saf/v05n03_history.html.print.html?staus=1
http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_783_2004-12-31.html
At the moment, the fund is presently left fallow since the account has been unserviceable for more than twenty years now. But by laws of inheritance here in Singapore, with the presentation of original particulars of the funds we can legally claim the fund without any problem. And my drive to carry out this plan with you is for us to invest the fund in any good business in your country which will possibly enhance our lives and that of our children.
In order to draw an Agreement between both parties please supply the required information:
i. RE-CONFIRM YOUR FULL NAMES:
ii. CONTACT ADDRESS:
iii. DATE OF BIRTH:
iv. TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER:
v. OCCUPATION:
Upon your reply I shall furnish you details.
Best regards,
Tan Seng Chew.
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Anti-fraud resources:
