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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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs Samia Nkrumah" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <samiainvestment@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:45:28 -0000
Subject: INVESTMENT PROJECT
INVESTMENT PROJECT,
My name is Mrs. Samia Nkrumah, a Ghanaian and currently a parliamentarian representing Jomoro constituency district of Western region of Ghana.
I write to request your co-operation in my desire to get a reliable foreign contact who can act in my stead to facilitate transfer of funds which is presently available to me for investment.
I will like you to give me a blue print in any business that is viable and worth putting my money
in your country. Inclusion of your remunerations and other interests will be greatly appreciated.
Please also give details of applicable investment binding laws in your country. I will let you know my fund transfer arrangements cum proposed step by step procedure when I hear from you.
Kind Regards,
Samia Nkrumah
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Anti-fraud resources:
