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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:
- "urgent assistance" (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: Zeabah Alain <z.a027@msn.com>
Reply-To: zeabahalain@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:03:34 +0000
Subject: FROM MR.ZEABAH ALAIN
FROM MR.ZEABAH ALAIN
COMPLEMENT OF THE DAY
WITH DUE RESPECT, I KNOW THIS MAIL WILL COME TO YOU AS A PARAMOUNT CONTENTS. I AM MR.ZEABAH ALAIN. I HOPE YOU WILL NOT EXPOSE OR BETRAY THE TRUST AND CONFIDENT THAT I AM ABOUT TO REPOSE ON YOU FOR THE MUTUAL BENEFIT OF OUR BOTH FAMILIES.
I NEED YOUR URGENT ASSISTANCE OF TRANSFERRING THE SUM OF $12.5 MILLION IMMEDIATELY TO YOUR ACCOUNT. THE MONEY HAS BEEN DORMANT FOR YEARS IN LATE CLIENT OF OUR BANK HERE IN MY COUNTRY AND I NEED THIS SUM TO ESTABLISH RESTAURANTS AND REAL ESTATES BUSINESS IN YOUR COUNTRY.
I WANT TO RELEASE THE MONEY TO YOU AS THE NEAREST PERSON TO THE CLIENT WHO WAS KILLED BY UNKNOWN ASSAILANTS.
THE SAID DECEASED WAS ONE OF THE BEST CLIENTS IN OUR BANK SO THEREFORE, I DON'T WANT THIS SUM TO GO INTO TREASURY OF THE BANK FOR THE GOVERNMENTAL ARREARS AS AN ABANDONED FUND ACCORDING TO THE FINANCIAL PROTOCOLS GUIDING INHERITANCE FUND HERE BECAUSE I'M THE ONLY PERSON IN POSITION NOW TO APPOINTING WHO TO CLAIM THE FUND AS I HAVE MADE FURTHER ARRANGEMENT IN OTHER TO TRANSFER THE FUND OUT THE BANK HERE, BECAUSE BEING THE ACCOUNT OFFICER TO THE CLIENT.
KINDLY TAKE OUT A MOMENT OF YOUR VERY BUSY SCHEDULE TO REPLY MY EMAIL FOR MORE DETAILS ON THIS INVESTMENT PROJECT AND ALSO SEND ME LIST OF VIABLE INVESTMENTS IN YOUR COUNTRY FOR MY CONSIDERATION.
UPON RECEIPT OF YOUR REPLY, I WILL SEND YOU FULL DETAILS ON HOW THE BUSINESS WILL BE EXECUTED AND ALSO NOTE THAT YOU WILL HAVE 40% OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED SUM IF YOU AGREE TO TRANSACT THE BUSINESS WITH ME.
GOOD DAY AND HAVE NICE DAY
MR.ZEABAH ALAIN
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