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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:
- "your urgent reply" (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: "MARK LIGHTEN" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ash1mail@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2012 04:38:32 -0700
Subject: Re: HELLO
Federal Reserve Bank of America
33 Liberty Street,
New York, NY 10045.
Our Ref: FRB-75BFNYUS2012
Hello,
I hope this mail does not serve as an embarrassment to you because I do receive unsolicited mails sometimes, the truth is that most individuals abuse the privilege and
thereby misuse it due to their selfish interest.
I am Mark Lighten officer with Federal Reserve Bank of America after a careful review of my files some couple of days ago, i noticed that our bank has not paid to you
the unclaimed funds of late Mr Mark Jefferson who named you as his next of kin while depositing the funds in our bank so years back.
Mr Frank a Citizen of the United States of America has placed an application claiming that he is your personal assistant and that you have instructed him to get the
funds.
I would like to know if you authorized him to claim it on your behalf because we intend reviewing his application so that further action may be taken to release the
funds to him.
Your urgent reply is needed which may include your direct telephone number for faster communication.
Don't fail to call me on +(1)718-3745449 Ext: 258
Warm Regards
Mark Lighten
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Anti-fraud resources:
