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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:
- "i want to solicit your attention" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Schmid Wood Walter" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <schmid.wood.walter@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2011 06:36:24 -0700
Subject: Attn:
Attn:
I am sorry to encroach into your privacy in this manner. I am an American Citizen and i work as a consultant with a Bank in Nigeria (GTBANK) with a branch office in London. I want to solicit your attention to use you to re-profile an inheritance fund which was owned by a Korean-American Scientist Engineer (late Prof. Kane Kim).
The purpose of contacting you is because my status would not permit me to do this alone as a Bank staff (insider Dealing).
When you reply this message, I will send you the full details and more information about myself and the funds. If interested, please reply.
Further more, in order for us to proceed, i will need you to send the following:
Your Name...
Your Home Addresses...
City...
Country...
Home Telephone...
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Anti-fraud resources:
