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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:
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr. Victor Barry" <paulagwa85@yahoo.fr>
Reply-To: alanfo_larin_2012@live.com
Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2012 16:07:13 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Swift ATM Payment Alert
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
CC: FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Ahmadu Bello Way, Central Business District,
BENIN REPUBLIC.
REF No: FMF-12Q2-ATM
                    ATM VISA CARD PAYMENT RELEASE ORDER
Your payment had been verified and you are obliged to receive deposited funds of $5.5M USD through an ATM VISA Card payment. This had been verified as legitimate with the Federal Ministry of Finance.
You have our full backing to proceed with your claims for the release of your ATM VISA Card.
Please carefully fill in the requested information for your ATM VISA card
payment release as endorsed from the Senate Committee on Appropriations
and Federal Ministry of Finance;
Your Full Name: …………………………………….
Address: ……………………………………………..
Home/Cell Phone: …………………………………...
Your ATM VISA Card will be delivered to you upon payment of the Delivery/Insurance charges of $99 USD. MAKE SURE YOU SEND THEM THE ($99 US) WITH THIS INFORMATION BELOW
OUR RECEIVER NAME .......MR MARCEL
EZECHUKWU
COUNTRY.....................BENIN REPUBLIC
ADDRESS....................COTONOU-BENIN
QUESTION...................which CODE
ANSWER.....................303
AMOUNT TO PAY......$99 US
Approved official for this claims is Mr. Alan Folarin. Email(alanfo_larin_2012@live.com)
Sincerely,
Dr. Victor Barry
CC: Senator Iyiola Omisore
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Anti-fraud resources:
