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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Web Office" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <web.office02@blumail.org>
Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2012 08:46:18 -0800
Subject: YOUR PAYMENT VIA ATM CARD
ATM CARD PAYMENT NOTIFICATION
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF
OPERATION INTERNATIONAL CREDIT
SETTLEMENT,CENTRAL BANK OF THE
STATES OF WEST AFRICA
ATTENTION:BENEFICIARY
THIS IS TO OFFICIALLY INFORM YOU THAT WE HAVE VERIFIED YOUR
INHERITANCE FILE AND FOUND OUT THAT WHY YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED YOUR PAYMENT IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT FULFILLED THE OBLIGATIONS GIVEN TO YOU IN RESPECT OF YOUR INHERITANCE PAYMENT.RIGHT NOW WE HAVE ARRANGED YOUR PAYMENT THROUGH OUR SWIFT CARD PAYMENT THAT IS THE LATEST INSTRUCTION FROM OUR NEW ELECTED PRESIDENT DOCTOR YAYI BONI.
WE SHALL SEND YOU AN ATM CARD VALUED TO THE AMOUNT OF US$3,700.000.00 AS FIRST PART PAYMENT FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR
2012.WHICH YOU WILL USE TO WITHDRAW YOUR MONEY IN ANY ATM MACHINE IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD. SO IF YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE YOUR FUND THIS WAY PLEASE LET US KNOW BY SENDING THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
1.FULL NAME
2.PHONE AND FAX NUMBER
3.ADDRESS WHERE YOU WANT THEM TO SEND THE ATM CARD TO YOU
4.YOUR AGE AND CURRENT OCCUPATION
5.A COPY OF YOUR IDENTIFICATION
WE HEREBY ISSUE YOU OUR CODE WHICH IS (ATM-721) SO YOU HAVE TO INDICATE THIS CODE WHEN CONTACTING US BY USING IT AS YOUR SUBJECT.
REGARDS,
PROF NNAMDI MBUTU
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Anti-fraud resources:
