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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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing 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: "ROBERT SWAN MUELLER III" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fbi_spyoffice@cyberservices.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:05:54 +1000
Subject: From the Desk of the Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
ROBERT SWAN MUELLER III
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FBI
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION WASHINGTON DC.
FBI SEEKING TO WIRETAP INTERNET
Telephone Number+1 (206) 350 5763
>From the Desk of the Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
I have been informed by the CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIAN that sum kinds of funds are left in your favor from the Federal Government of Nigeria and it has been in dominant since you have not come up with some kinds of funds required of you.
As far as am concern, I will urge you to get back to me with your Residential Address and Contact Number for more discussions over the release of funds to you successfully without any kinds of payment required. You have between 48hrs ahead to get back to this office with the requirements to enables funds processing not to funds returned back to the Central Bank Of Nigeria Your Fund is here in WASHINGTON DC.
YOUR URGENT RESPONSE IS REQUIRED OF YOU TO ENABLES US GET YOUR FUNDS TO YOU WITHOUT ANY REQUIREMENT OF FEES FROM ANYONE HERE IN WASHINGTON DC.
E-mail: fbi_spyoffice@cyberservices.com
Your Maximum Security is Guaranteed.
Warmest Regards
Robert Swan Mueller III
Washington dc, room 7367
J.Edgar Hoover FBI building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW ,Washington, DC 20535
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Anti-fraud resources:
