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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: patricia ukpali <patricia_ukpali208@rediffmail.com>
Reply-To: patricia_ukpali200@yahoo.cn
Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2011 20:28:00 +0100 (BST)
Subject: My dear good friend
My dear good friend,
My name is Patricia ukpali I am 20 years old girl. This is a compelling story, and I beg you to be patient and read through to the end. I was adopted in by Mr. Samuel Ukpali a successful cocoa farmer in Ivory Coast . Mr Samuel Ukpali died as a result of the political crisis in Ivory Coast .
I loved Mr Samuel Ukpali for his kindness to me; for taking me out of the motherless baby home and make me his own daughter. He simply adopted me because he had no child on his own. I had no memory of my real parents.
Before the death of Mr Samuel on June 12 2008 he called me on the hospital bed and narrated to me that he has some money deposited in the bank.
Two weeks ago, I received a letter from the bank. The manager of this bank in his letter apologized to me for waiting so long to contact me; information of my father death simply did not reach him until a chance newspaper publication alerted him of the fact. I was then invited to come forward to their bank claiming of the money.
I therefore decided to look for a foreign partner who will help me claim the money from the bank and arrange for the transfer of the money to abroad in your country and at the same time assist me to come over to your country to stay with you and continue my education.
I desperately need your help! I need you to contact the bank on my behalf as the "CONSIGNEE"; claim the money and arrange to transfer the money to your country. Once this transferred to your country is made, you will send me ticket and visa to come and meet you in your country.
There is absolutely NO RISK to you; please reach me through this confidential Email for more introductions.
I am waiting for your response soon.
Sincerely
Miss Patricia Ukpali.
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Anti-fraud resources:
