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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: kim lu <kimlu002@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2011 17:05:45 -0700
Subject: Business proposal to you sir, your offer
I am kimlu slim an auditor to RBS Group. During my quarterly auditing I
discovered $5.7 Million dollars owned by Phillip Wojtas who died 20yrs ago.
The bank has no trace of any relation to the deceased person. I therefore
want to present you for us to claim this money risk free guaranteed. We’ll
share it 50-50. Note that this is extremely confidential; I do not want
anyone to know I am revealing these details to you. I’ll give you
information on how you’ll get this money from Royal Bank of Scotland. My
instinct compels me to involve you in this business.
Please respond with the following details:
Your Name:...................
Age:.........................
Occupation:..................
Phone(s):....................
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Anti-fraud resources:
