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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "there is no risk involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "there are practically no risks involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: George Owusu <gowusu001@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:40:04 +0000
Subject: URGENT REPLY NEEDED
My Friend,
My name is George Owusu I am the regional manager of Standard Chartered bank
of Ghana Tarkwa branch in the western region of Ghana. I got your
information when i was searching for an oversea partner among other names. I
write you this proposal in good faith; I am 51 years old married with three
lovely kids.
I have packaged a financial transaction that will benefit you and I, as the
regional manager of the Standard Chartered bank it is my duty to send in a
financial report to my head office in the capital city Accra at the end of
each business year. On the course of the last year 2011 business report, I
discovered that my branch in which I am the manager made seven million five
hundred united state dollars (7.500m)usd.
There are practically no risks involved, it will be a bank-to-bank transfer,
and all I need from you is to stand claim as the original depositor of these
funds who made the deposit with my branch so that my head office can order
he transfer to your designated bank account.
If you accept to work with me I will appreciate it very much. email me with
the above email address so that we can go over the details and i will give
you my full information's.Remember there is no risk involved i promise.
Thank you in advance and May God bless you and your family.
Yours truly
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Anti-fraud resources:
