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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)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Roy Peer" <merrilybaker@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <roypeer@rocketmail.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2012 06:08:04 -0400
Subject: LET ME KNOW.
Dear Friend,
I AM MR Roy Peer FROM COTONOU REPUBLIC OF BENIN I NEED YOUR URGENT TRUST
TO HELP ME INVEST SUM OF 25.9MILLION USD IN YOUR COUNTRY IN YOUR
COUNTRY FOR INVESTMENT AND TO BUY PROPERTY FOR RENT AGE OVER THERE IN
YOUR COUNTRY.
I GOT THIS MONEY FROM MY LATE BOSS WHO I ATTACHED HIS PICTURE IN MY
MAIL AS MY FIRST PROOF I AM HIS PERSONAL ASSISTANCE WHERE WILL WORK
TOGETHER IN TOGO BEFORE IS DEATH .
AND I AM HIS WITNESS TO THE SECURITY COMPANY WHERE THE BOX OF THE MONEY
WAS KEPT HERE IN COTONOU THAT THE BOX BELONG TO FOREIGN INVESTOR FROM
OVERSEA AND DECLARED THE CONTENT OF THE BOX AS JEWELRIES AND COSTUMES
MATERIALS FOR SECURITY REASON AND TO AVOID THE SECURITY VAULT NOT TO
AWARE THAT THE CONTENT OF THE BOX IS MONEY SO THIS TRANSACTION IS FREE
FROM ALL RISK AND WITHOUT ANY UPFRONT PAYMENT OR ANY GOVERNMENT PROBLEM,
I WILL OFFER YOU 25% FROM THE TOTAL SUM OF 25.5MILLION WHILE 75% WILL
BE FOR ME AS OWNER.
THE MAJOR REASON WHY I CONTACT YOU IS TO KNOW WHETHER YOU ARE CAPABLE TO
FINANCE YOURSELF TO COTONOU IN WEST AFRICA FOR THE CLAIMING OF THE BOX
OF THE MONEY FROM SECURITY VAULT WHERE MY LATE LOVER MR KENNETH COOPER
DEPOSIT THE BOX TO THE SECURITY VAULT AS BENEFICIARY BECAUSE MY LATE
LOVER KEPT THE BOX IN THE VAULT THAT IT BELONG TO FOREIGN INVESTOR FROM
OVERSEA FOR SECURITY REASON,
SO YOU ARRIVAL TO COTONOU IS VERY PARAMOUNT IMPORTANT FOR FINAL
TRANSACTION ANDI HAVE NEGOTIATE WITH ECO BANK DUE BENIN WHERE WE WILL
DEPOSIT THE MONEY IN YOUR NAME FOR FINAL TRANSFER TO YOUR COUNTRY BANK
TO BANK TRANSFER WHY YOU MUST ARRIVAL TO COTONOU IS BECAUSE YOU ARE TO
BE THE SIGNATORY ACCOUNT IN THE ECO BANK DUE BENIN WHERE WILL DEPOSIT
THE TOTAL CASH BY OUR SELF INTO DOMICILIARY ACCOUNT.
SO IF YOU ARE INTERESTED KINDLY SEND ME YOUR FULL DETAILS IN YOUR REPLY
SO THAT I WILL TELL YOU THE NEXT STEP AND THIS TRANSACTION IS JUST FOR
48HRS TRANSACTION HERE IN COTONOU WITHOUT ANY UPFRONT PAYMENT.
WHAT I NEED IS YOUR TRUST AND YOUR TIME TO ARRIVE TO COTONOU FOR FINAL
TRANSACTION BECAUSE THERE IS KNOW GOOD BUSINESS WITHOUT HANDSHAKING AND I
WILL ALSO PLAN HOW I WILL MET YOU IMMEDIATELY FOR FINAL SHARING OF THE
FUND IN YOUR COUNTRY AFTER YOU MIGHT RETURN BACK AND START MY
INVESTMENT.
HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU
SINCERELY
Roy Peer.
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