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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Abdel Rahim <hendersongeorge29@yahoo.com.ph>
Reply-To: abdelrahim_2012@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 21:19:42 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: Hello
Dear
Sir/Madam
Gentleman you sound experienced and is impressed. Listen I am petroleum
Engineer/contractor and I have little or no experience in investment. Am
requesting that you do a research and come up with your suggestion on which
Field of investment we should invest a reasonable amount from late Libyan
President's Reserve (M.Gadaffi) which am overseeing for the Family into for At
least 10yrs and you will be handling it/overseeing it as the families Partner
secretly and the proceeds will be share on a ratio. Before we Proceed, I will
insist that you verify the data of the firm I deposited the Funds in their
custody prior to when I secure a partner from the embassy. I also insist that
you verify if the company is truly Registered/genuine/operational before I will
introduce you to them as the new Beneficiary. Less I forget an MOU will be
endorsed by both parties before we commence await your fast response.
Best regards.
Abdel Rahim
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Anti-fraud resources:
