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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "million dollars" (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: "Henry Itego" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <henryitego@mail.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:50:43 -0700
Subject: Message From Henry Itego (ADB)
Dear Sir/Madam,
This is to officially inform you that it has come to our notice that several payments has been made regarding your fund (TWENTY FOUR MILLION DOLLARS) in London Switzerland and the United States which originated from Nigeria.
It is to this effect that we realized that till date, you have not received your funds and we are so concerned about it which is the reason we want to reconsider the mode of payment and the institution that will take charge of the payment.
Pertinently, your payment will be made through the AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK, inorder to avoid incessant fees from different quarters.
You are hereby required to abide by this tenets and avoid every further communication from every quaters so as to avoid complication.
Your early response to this email letter is required inorder to expediate action before the end of the second quarter of the year.
Thanks for your understanding and patience.
Yours Faithfully,
Henry Itego
Director of Operations.
Foreign and contract department.
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Anti-fraud resources:
