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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 states 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Hon Justice Ayoola" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <icpcoonigg@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2011 04:57:42 -0700
Subject: YOUR COMPASENTION
ATTN: Beneficiary,
VERY URGENT AND IMPORTANT
This is to officially inform you that your name is in our system here as one of the Nigeria scam victims.
The Federal Government of Nigeria in a bid to sanitize the dented image of our beloved country Nigeria have given this office the power to make sure that all the scam victims get compensated. In this regards, you will receive a compensation fund of three million United States Dollars from Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Due to the corruption in the Nigeria banking system, the ICPC Nigeria have decided to use a foreign bank to make sure that all the beneficiaries receive their compensation funds without more stress.
Therefore, we use this medium to officially inform you that your compensation fund will be remitted to your account from our London affiliate bank Australia and New Zealand bank (ANZ)
Australia and New Zealand bank coordinate will be given to you as soon as we receive the acknowledgement of this mail from you.
We are here to protect you and the image of our beloved Country Nigeria.
We are truly sorry for all you have gone through in the past.
AWAITING YOUR SOONEST RESPONSE.
YOURS FAITHFULLY,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING
Hon Justice Ayoola
ICPC Chairman
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Anti-fraud resources:
