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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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "transfer of your funds" (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 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)
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Henri <lamberthenribf01@gmail.com>
Reply-To: lamberthenribf@voila.fr
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:35:29 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: Reply me back.
Dear Beneficiary,
IMMEDIATE PAYMENT OF YOUR FUNDS VALUED US$9.3 MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS.
This is to inform you that we the above Bank have been appointed by the Federal Government of Burkina Faso and the World Bank to handle the payment of all Foreign beneficiaries in Burkina Faso and other African Countries. We write you because you are one of the qualified beneficiary that will receive your Inheritance funds valued US$9.3 Million United States Dollars.
We do not want to delay in paying you and other beneficiaries, you are therefore advised to fill the below for your immediate payment:
Come up with the information's showed below:-
1)YOUR FULL NAME............................
2)YOUR AGE...........................
3)MARITAL STATUS...........................
4)YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER............................
5)YOUR FAX NUMBER............................
6)YOUR COUNTRY...........................
7)YOUR OCCUPATION............................
8)SEX............................
9)YOUR RELIGION...........................
10)YOUR PRIVATE E-MAIL ADDRESS............................
Your payment will be made through bank to bank wire transfer or Diplomatic way.
Your payment code is: BOA0381967.
You have to follow this payment instruction for the immediate transfer of your funds into your designated bank account, Once we hear from you, we shall process your payment and wire your funds into your bank account without delay.
We look forward to hearing from you.
You are advice to contact the Bank immediately for your onward transfer of your inheritance fund, with this bank Email ID :(bankofafricaburkina@voila.fr)
Sincerely,
Mr. Lambert Henri.
Phone. +22675939334.
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