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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:
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: kellech Amara <kellam12@msn.com>
Reply-To: <kellechamara@rocketmail.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:11:28 +0000
Subject: Prospective Partnership
Dear Prospective Partner,
Good Day to You. I seek your indulgence to solicit for your
assistance concerning the
contents of my mail, although I am not comfortable
discussing
the business
with you owing to lots of unsolicited mails on the internet
but I
have no other medium to do so right now due to the urgent
nature of this proposal.
I am Mr. Kellech Amara the financial adviser to Laurent
Gbagbo the former president of
Ivory Coast, one of the countries in west Africa.
I need your assistance to invest millions of dollars i
transferred to few foreign banks on behalf of the former
president that is being detained now by the current
president. We had the ambition of establishing
industries and buying properties with the funds.
Though only me and the former president know the banks
where the funds are deposited and I am in a hide-out now
because the present government and France have
killed most of my colleague and they have declared most of
us living wanted.
I will be pleased if you will partner with me and I promise
you a great reward.
waiting for your urgent reply.
regards.
KELECH AMARA
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Anti-fraud resources:
