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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "chambers" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: "Barr James Okolo" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jaokolo721@w.cn>
Date: Sun, 8 May 2011 23:37:18 +0100
Subject: Final Notification(Next Of Kin)
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am Barrister James Okolo of Attorney Okolo Chambers, my client a contractor made a deposit in a Bank for 36 months, I discovered that my client died without making a WILL. Consequently my proposal is to present you as his Next of kin from my client family as your last name and that of his last name are the same.
So if this transaction interests you, kindly let me know so we can proceed by contacting the bank and sending an official introduction letter of Claim to the bank where the funds is deposited. I wish to act fast on these regard to avoid the Bank confiscating the funds and send it to Government account, as the bank has previously sent me mail to present the next of kin within 6 months.
Please kindly furnish me with the following information below to enable us proceed.
[1] NAME:......................................
[2] CONTACT ADD:..............................
[3] AGE: .................SEX:........................
[4] TEL NUMBER.............................. FAX NUMBER:..................
[6] OCCUPATION STATUS: ............................
[7] COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:.........COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE.........
Send the above information to me via my private email :jaokolo721@w.cn
Yours Faithfully
Barrister James Okolo
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Anti-fraud resources:
