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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Albert Makoh" <mralbertmakoh@voila.fr>
Reply-To: mralbertmakoh@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:05:28 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: I need your co-operation.
Dear Friend, Greetings to you and your family, I am Mr. Albert Makoh the Auditing and Accounting section manager in a bank here in Burkina Faso. I need your urgent assistance in transferring the sum of ($39.5)million to your account within 10 to 14 banking days. This money has been dormant for years in our Bank without claim. So this is the reason I contacted you so that the bank can release the money to you as the next of kin/partner to the deceased customer. Upon receipt of your reply, I will give you full details on how the business will be executed. But the secret must remain between you and me, I can assure you that I have worked with this bank for many years and I know all the secrets and I have carefully mapped out my perfect strategies to handle this operation successfully. The depositor is my close friend before his death that is the main reason I'm the only one working at the bank here that knows much about the existence of this fund and the
depositor. We will also use some part of the funds to help the orphanage and less privileged children in the world. Respectfully,Mr. Albert Makoh.Tell: 0022671019455
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Anti-fraud resources:
