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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 us 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)
- "utmost confidentiality" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mr Chris Libea <abohjohn78@gmail.com>
Reply-To: john_aboh213@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2011 05:20:40 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: 15/8/2011
Attention Sir/Madam,
My name is Chris Libea I just came in to London from Libya to meet our lawyer and process our fund which my father deposited with one of the security companies here in London for safe keeping before he was killed by the Libyan leader Muammer Gaddafi in my country.
He deposited the sum of $26.5 million US Dollars, but the safe company is not aware of the contents as it was marked family valuable. However, I am contacting you to assist us to move the fund out to your designated account for future investment.
I and my mother have concluded to invest the money in abroad ,I have all the documents for the funds with me and I shall send them to you if you need them for verification and confirmations.
This transaction is 100% risk free and we have to respect the utmost confidentiality of it as we are the only people aware of the contents in the boxes.
you are to send the following information:
1. Full Name:
2. Current Address:
3. Valid Telephone Number:
4. Company Name: with all these information provided, we would be able to process the decuments in your name for the claiming of the fund.
We shall discuss the percentage and the investment profiles as soon as you have accepted to assist us claim this fund from the safe house. We shall change all the documents to your name thereby making you the designate beneficiary of the fund. if you are interested in this proposal, please reply me as a matter of urgency.
Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you and GOD bless.
Best Regards
Mr Chris Libea
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Anti-fraud resources:
