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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:
- "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "hundred thousand 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)
- "leungcheung12@live.hk" (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: "=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Mrs=20Susan=20Mayette?=" <mrs.susanmayette@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: leungcheung12@live.hk
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2011 08:25:55 -0300
Subject:
Let me start by introducing myself. I am Mr Leung Cheung Manager of
the Hang Seng Bank Ltd Hong Kong. Before the U.S and Iraqi war our
client Aziz Musa Omar Numan who was with the Iraqi forces and also big
time made a numbered fixed deposit for 18 calendar months, with a
value of Twenty-Two Million Five Hundred Thousand United States
Dollars only in my branch. Upon maturity several notices was sent to
him, even during the war which began in 2003. Again after the war
another notification was sent and still no response came from him.We
later found out that the Aziz Musa Omar Numan along with his wife,
daughter and son had been killed during the war in a bomb blast that
hit their home. Please endeavor to observe utmost discretion in all
matters concerning issue. so i wilmore details if i get a po
sitive response from you.
Regards
Mr Leung Cheung
Email: leungcheung12@live.hk
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Anti-fraud resources:
