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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:
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: ogbodo hangin <daj21----91@att.net>
Reply-To: r.s2020@live.com
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2011 06:00:44 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Attention:
Attention:
MAY PEACE BE UNTO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY
I am writing to seek your cooperation over this business, please due welcome this letter Greetings to you and your family? I am Mr. Ogbodo Hangin, account manager to late Mr. Williams Smith. I need your assistance in transferring the sum of ($7.5M) seven million five hundred US dollars into your account within 7 to 10 banking days because what our prime minister said that all the dormant account will be use for youth fund and i want to take this our before the time comes. This account belongs to one of our foreign customer by name, Mr. Williams Smith who died along with his entire family in a plane crash some years ago. You can view the link below for more details: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/tanzania/1501084/Tycoon-dies-with-family-in-Tanzania-safari-plane-crash.html All conformable documents to back up this claim will be made available to you prior to your acceptance. Meanwhile, I have worked out the strategics and
technical it!
i es where the funds can be claimed in any of our 6 clearing houses without any hitch. Our sharing ratio will be 40-60 while expenses during the process of transaction will be based on individual capability. If you are interested in handling this life changing and promising transaction of mine, please email me your name and direct telephone number for discussion of this deal in further details.reason.
Best Regards,
Mr Hangin.
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Anti-fraud resources:
