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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: Philip Johnson <mdaza@insopesca.gob.ve>
Reply-To: Philip Johnson <philipmusingajohnson@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2011 15:39:06 -0430 (VET)
Subject: PLEASE BE OUR GUARDIAN
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Dear Dad/Mom.
It's the pleasure of mine coupled with my sister's pleasure to contact you.
I am Prince Philip Johnson and I live in Ghana with my sister Princess Saraphina Johnson, we are refugees. We lost our parents in the war in my country and we were among the kids rescued to Ghana by UN Forces...
We have our inheritance boxes here in Ghana which our late father, His Royal Highness King Musinga Johnson of Kreo Community in Sudan deposited here for safekeeping purpose due to the war situation in our country over the years. The 2 boxes contain $21 million dollars and 75kg of uncut diamonds respectively, but the security company doesn't know the exact contents because our father deposited them as "FAMILY VALUABLES".
My questions are these below:
1. Please can you receive these boxes for us as our foreign guardian and trustee?
2. Can we trust you in helping us?
3. What percentage do you think that will be okay for you?
Please think about this and reply us as soon as possible for us to know what to do immediately. Take good care and God bless you and your family till we hear from you. Our sincere regards to your entire family.
Regards
Philip Musinga Johnson
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Anti-fraud resources:
