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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 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: "Taher Saeed Abboud Al Taheri" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <abboudaltaheri@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 07:42:15 +0100
Subject: Please Response Asap
I am Taher Saeed Abboud Al Taheri a staff of Bank of Sharjah, in Dubai and personal Banker to late Sheikh Ahmed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan who was the head of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan is a well known Philanthropist. Before his sudden demise in a private plane that crashed into the ocean March 26 2010 near the Moroccan Capital City, Rabat, he had an Investment in one of our Corresponding Escrow in Europe to the tune of USD$19 Million Dollars (Nineteen Million Dollars Only) which he setup under a group name for future Charity donation of his choice overseas. Since after his demise our Corresponding Escrow has threatened to confiscate the funds as unclaimed funds if no beneficiary is presented within a limited time frame.
I have a sensitive and private brief to ask for your partnership to re-profile these funds into your custody by standing as the beneficiary to the bequest. I will give the details of how we can achieve that, but in summary, you will be paid 45% of these funds I am able to reach terms with you. I will also want you to help in investing my 55% share in your Country for privacy sake since I am still in active service here in Dubai.
Please keep this communication close to your chest as much as possible!
I look forward to hear from you.
Yours faithfully,
Taher Saeed Abboud Al Taheri.
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Anti-fraud resources:
