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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)
- "bank charges " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "federal republic of benin" (Benin, Cameroon, etc. are no Federal Republics, unlike Nigeria where this type of scam was invented)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.Keith R.Whitson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <keithr.whitson@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2012 10:54:08 -0400
Subject: FROM African Development Bank(AFDB)
>From the Desk of Mr.Keith R.Whitson
ATTENTION HONOURABLE BENEFICIARY
I work as a telex officer with the African Development Bank(AFDB) here in the federal Republic of Benin. I have a very good news for you but it all depends on your willingness to respond to this mail urgently. The World bank through the AFDB has published in their official gazette that all contractors/Next of Kins that are still being owed by all African Banks for a very long time should be paid off without any upfront payments.
Meanwhile,i want to tell you that if you are interested to partake in this payment exercise, i will advise you to send as quickly as possible, your current bank account details including the address where you want this fund to be transferred into since your name is among the names of the contractors/Next of Kin that was published for Payment. Please there is no bank charges as this instruction has been given to AFDB to wire your fund into your account without any charges.This is aimed at redeeming the lost image of all African Banks.
Truly yours,
Mr.Keith R.Whitson
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Anti-fraud resources:
