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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 united states 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)
- "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)
- "my direct line" (a "direct line" in a scam usually means an untraceable mobile phone number used by a scammer in an internet cafe, a redirection service number that forwards to a mobile or a free voicemailbox in a different country.)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. George O. Ben" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <debitcard1975@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:29:20 -0700
Subject: Our Ref: CBN/IRD/CBX/021/008
Our Ref: CBN/IRD/CBX/021/008
Swift Code: BPH KPL PK,
In view to your active response and provision of your personal information which will help this office to facilitate the final official payment process of your fund valued Nine Million United States Dollars ($9million) through ATM card delivery, this office has been appointed by the Central Bank Board members to make the payment to you as part of their resolve in the last board meeting held on Mon, the 18July 2011 after several attempts to contact you on this payment in the past failed.
However, I want to inform you that my office is now working relentlessly to ensure that your ATM card of $9million dollars value is processed and delivered to your designated address in less than 72hours from now.
Be informed very clearly that your cooperation with my office and your compliance to our delivery guidelines and advices will make this payment hitch free and a huge success. Finally, you will be contacted as soon as we are through with the endorsement of the necessary payment documents by all the departments involved and the delivery arrangement as well.
Note: call me on my direct line when you deem it necessary to communicate with me: +234 705 888 3247
Yours truly,
Mr. George O. Ben
Director ATM Card Payment Department (CBN)
Central Bank Of Nigeria
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Anti-fraud resources:
