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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "microsoft lottery" (no such lottery exists)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "security keeping fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "western union" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "money gram" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- ",500,000" (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)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "www.cenbank.org" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "Rev. James Wimmer" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <zengjnxing@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2012 04:09:26 -0800
Subject: Your Transaction File
This message is from Central Bank Of Nigeria and Also from the Admin Desk of U.S Embassy Nigeria.
This Email is very important and lack of seriousness toward this transaction your file will be returned back and mark unclaimed my advice to you is to act smart and fast and claim your funds.
I have tried all means to contact you but your email in our file was not correct i quickly contact the U.S Embassy Nigeria with the help of Nicon Insurance Agency and we got your correct email and i also want to congratulate your becaue your Email won in April 2011 National Microsoft Lottery sponsored by Microaoft Company and also the U.S Embassy and since then all means to contact you was not successful.
This new year and we have been instructed and mandated to ensure your fund is released to you with immediate action and also get back to me with your phone number.
This is to notify you that we have open a Bank of America Account With Online Transfer and Transaction Access and deposited your fund $10,500,000 into your new created online account.
There is no much time left you have only few days to claim the funds or else the money will be returned back to the Federal Ministry of Finance Department.
The C.O.T has been deducted already by our management to view the Account Balance and to make Online Transfer Click or copy the Link below to have access to Transfer the $10,500,000 into your Bank Account and your daily limit transfer is $100,000 per day.
Account Access Link: https://sitekey.bankofamerica.com
Once you access the account you will have access to make International Transfer and Local Transfer to any bank world wide and it easy I will also ship the complete online registration details to you via Fedex Next day express delivery and also send the details via Email to you.
The only fee required from you is the security keeping fee of the funds the company in charge Nicon security agency need there service render charge fee before they will release the Online Banking registration details and Sign In ID you will need to login and view the balance and make transfer.
Send the charge fee $42 so the security render service charge fee can be paid and i will also send the Online Transfer Login details you will need to enable you make online Transfer once the $42 is paid.
Send charge fee via WESTERN UNION or MONEY GRAM Money Transfer so i can pay the charge fee on your behalf.
RECEIVER NAME: JAMES WIMMER
ADDRESS: 19 CENTRAL ROAD
CITY: LAGOS
STATE: LAGOS
COUNTRY: NIGERIA
ZIPCODE: 23401
TEXT QUESTION: COLOUR
ANSWER: NONE
Await your reply and the required payment confirmation details.
Rev. James Wimmer
Manager International Admin Management.
Central Bank Of Nigeria and Admin Desk of U.S Embassy Nigeria
Website: http://www.cenbank.org
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Anti-fraud resources:
