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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- muhammedissah@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "jihn" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <muhammedissah@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2012 08:39:00 +0100
Subject: VERY VERY URGENT
DEAR FRIEND,
I AM MUHAMMED ISSAH, A 28YEARS OLD FORMER ANTI-GADDAFI FORCE
IN LIBYA.I HAVE ATTAINED SOME MONEY ON OUR SEARCH OF
FINDING GADDAFI WHICH IS US$8.5MILLION AND I
PERSONALLY WENT TO DEPOSIT IT IN THE STANDARD SECURITY COMPANY IN GHANA,AND AM IN SEARCH OF SOMEONE WHO WILL RECEIVE THE FUNDS FOR ME AS I WANT TO LEAVE OUTSIDE LIBYA AND START A NEW LIFE.THE WAR IS OVER NOW BUT THERE IS STILL MUCH TENSION IN LIBYA.AND I PROMISE TO OFFER YOU 30% OF THE TOTAL FUNDS.I NEED A SERIOUS PERSON WITH WHOM I CAN TRUST WITH THIS. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED AND WILLING PLEASE CONTACT ME THROUGH THIS EMAIL ADDRESS FOR MORE DETAIL.
muhammedissah@gmail.com
ENABLE TO SEND YOUR DIRECT PHONE NUMBER FOR SWIFT COMMUNICATION
THANK YOU.
MUHAMMED ISSAH
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Anti-fraud resources:
