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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "million us dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- legalinfoconsultant@india.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Accredited Consultant." <michell999@gmx.com>
Reply-To: legalinfoconsultant@india.com
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2012 06:21:50 -0400
Subject: Re:Re Your fund has been approved
- This mail is in HTML. Some elements may be ommited in plain text. -
NB: REPLY TO :
legalinfoconsultant@india.com
Attention Sir/Madam,
The International Monetary Taskforce has authorized the release of both Medical
Research Grants and your pending Inheritance payment. The delay of payments was
due to the newly introduced policies by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
to upgrade security against fraud and investigate those institutions used for illegal activities.
This is to inform you that your fund has been approved for transfer and your
name will be listed in the next payment schedule. For immediate transfer of
every pending/overdue fund within 72 banking hours, the Task-Force will supervise every transaction to ensure that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mandate is implemented without any breach of financial laws.
>From the payment scheduled released by Royal Bank of Scotland , payment will be
made into your bank account in two separate wires. You shall receive USD$10M
(Ten Million US Dollars) first wire and remaining balance will be announced to you in due time.
You are advice to email the below requirements to the head of foreign operation
for verification.
1.) Beneficiary Full Names..............
2 )Contact Phone & Fax Number ( Mobile ) . ...
3)Contact Mailing Address. (Home or Office)........
4 )Passport Photograph (Send via Attachment)........
5. )Valid Identity-card (Send via Attachment) For Medical Practitioners Only.
We are sincerely sorry for the inconvenient as a result of the delay.
Thanks for your patient, and we wait for your urgent response to this email address:
legalinfoconsultant@india.com
Sincerely,
Mitchell Rowthell.
Accredited Consultant.
British Financial Task-force.
NB: REPLY TO :
legalinfoconsultant@india.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
