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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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 friend" (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.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- nusrathammedalghrari@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Nusrat Hameed Al-Ghrari" <info@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: nusrathammedalghrari@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2011 02:29:54 +0300
Subject: LIBYA WAR AND NATO BUMB BLAST
Dear Friend
The situation in Libya has completely taking a bad shape since the
pro-Gadhafi fighters and NATO has been bombing innocent civilians!
From what I have seen
with my eyes here in Libya, I am no longer afraid of death for it will
surely come to everyone someday, but what is bothering me most is that
I am still
alive and suffering in deep pains from injuries sustained in a bomb
blast that killed my entire family. View the below link for more
details:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jun2011/liby-j20.shtml
My name is Mrs. Nusrat Hameed Al-Ghrari, the only survival of a bomb
blast that crushed our family resident in Libya, I am under serious
medical attention and
all I pray for now is to die quickly and join my family in peace as I
can no longer accept the pains I am going through.
My purpose of contacting you is to donate the last of my family
savings to you so that you can help me disbursed it as charity to the
less privilege, victims
of war and poor before I die.
Please acknowledge my email for more details via this email:
nusrathammedalghrari@yahoo.com
Sincerely,
Mrs. Nusrat Hameed Al-Ghrari
nusrathammedalghrari@yahoo.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
