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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:
- "unitedbankplc1@ibibo.com" (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: "HSBC BANK CO-OPERATION" <mrsmariaakin812@att.net>
Reply-To: <unitedbankplc1@ibibo.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:25:35 +0100
Subject: CONTRATULATION YOUR FUND HAS BEEN RELEASED
Attention our dear customer:
We are happy to inform you that your US$1.5Million has been transfered
into our Chicago bank for onward remittance into your bank account
today. We did not transfer the funds direct into your bank account due to
the President Obama's new method of financial obligations, He gave an
instruction that any funds above $50,000.00 will be transfered to United
Bank Chicago for investigation before the final remittance into the
beneficiary's account.
The Chicago Bank is the only bank that has been given authority to handle
any transaction from over seas to the States. We heard that you have
spent some money in order to receive your funds which results nothing in
return, Now, You will receive your funds as soon as you contact them
today. Email the bank as soon as you receive this email.
I hereby direct you to contact the bank through this information below.
UNITED BANK PLC
CHICAGO USA
E-mail :(unitedbankplc1@ibibo.com)
They will complete the remittance of the funds into your Bank account
today once they hear from you. Congratulations once again.thank you for
banking with us.
Yours in service
Richard Westerfield
HSBC BANK CO-OPERATION
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Anti-fraud resources:
