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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Kofi Lamine <kofilamine@rocketmail.com>
Date: Thu, 10 May 2012 03:56:42 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: WE ARE SORRY FOR THE DELAY.
Reference #
78659182
YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE:
THIS IS
TO INFORM YOU THAT WE HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED BY THE FOREIGN REMITTANCE
DEPARTMENT OF THIS BANK TO EFFECT THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF YOUR OVER DUE
PAYMENT SUM OF ($ 1.7 Million USD) ONE MILLION SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ONLY. YOU SHOULD STOP EVERY COMMUNICATION
WITH ANY IMPOSER WHO CLAIM TO BE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE OR ATTORNEY
BECAUSE ONE MRS. NANCY JOHNSON CAME TO OUR OFFICE TODAY WITH A LETTER CLAIMING TO BE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE SENT BY YOU TO CLAIM YOUR FUND.
PLEASE
DO RECONFIRM TO THIS OFFICE AS A MATTER OF URGENCY IF THIS WOMAN IS
FROM YOU SO THAT WE WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR DIVERSION OF YOUR
FUND TO A WRONG PERSON.
YOU HAVE TO DO US A FAVOR BY RECONFIRMING
YOUR DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER AND CURRENT LOCATION ADDRESS.... FOR MORE
CONFIRMATION AND VERIFICATION.
ALL THE TRANSFER ARRANGEMENT HAS
BEEN CONCLUDED AND WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO MOVE YOUR FUND TO YOU AS
SOON AS WE RECONFIRM FROM YOU.
WE ARE SORRY FOR THE DELAY.
KIND REGARD'S
MR.KOFI LAMINE.
DIRECTOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT.
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Anti-fraud resources:
