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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:
- "trunk box" (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)
- "trunk boxes" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mensah Kofi Mensah" <kuformensah3@gmail.com>
Reply-To: <kuformensah9@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:24:35 -0000
Subject: For your consideration
My Greetings!
The sum of US$65.5million in "cash" was concealed in an Eight (4) Trunk Boxes and was deposited with a Private Security Company based in Ghana by a Top Serving Government Official/2012 Presidential Aspirant (Name Withheld).
I am contacting you with an offer to stand as the Owner cum Beneficiary of the aforementioned Cash Funds in order to facilitate and expedite the evacuation of the Funds out of the Country without delay. In addition, you will retain 40% of the $65.5million as part of your benefits for your kind gesture. If you are interested, please contact me for more details.
Thank you.
Kind Regards,
Mensah Kofi Mensah
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Anti-fraud resources:
