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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 state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "office-atm@blumail.org" (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: "Mrs. Juliet Johnson" <julietjh---142@att.net>
Reply-To: juliethaz@yahoo.fr
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 04:44:05 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Attention Dear Beneficiary,
Attention Dear Beneficiary, This is to inform you that due to your delay and some obstacles surrounding the transfer of your Fund valued $1.5 Million United State Dollars. We have finally loaded your total fund in to an ATM MASTER CARD which you can be withdrawing up to $4000USD everyday in any ATM CASH POINT MACHINE of your choice all over the world. However,you are advised to contact The ATM Payment/Remittance Office here in Benin Republic as soon as you receive this E-mail with this secret code (0047-ATM) to avoid any delay and to also know when you will receive your ATM CARD. Secondly,make sure you re-confirm your Postal address and direct telephone number to them again to avoid any mistake on issuing your ATM CARD to a wrong person.Therefore, contact them immediately with their contact address as stated below: Contact Person................ Dr. Ofor Balaji Contact E-mail................ office-atm@blumail.org
Phone...............................(+229)-9824-6485 Secret Code...................... (0047-ATM) Note; ATM PAYMENT OFFICE BENIN REPUBLIC will be waiting to receive your E-mail with your contact address and you have to contact them now with this secret code(0047-ATM) for them to know that you are the rightful beneficiary of this ATM CARD. I will be waiting to hear from you as soon as you receive the ATM CARD. Thanks for your understanding
Mrs. Julie Johnson
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Anti-fraud resources:
