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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:
- "terrorist clearance certificate" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
- "clearance certificate" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "clearance certificate" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Nana Mensah" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <nanames69@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2012 22:46:21 +0100
Subject: Contact Me For Your Funds
I am Mr. NANA MENSAH I have just been posted to the department of Telex computer of the BANK OF GHANA.I studied your file and I found out that you have paid a lot of fees but your fund was not released to you.What you have in your file are mere photocopies.which are not really visible.
The so called officials you have been dealing with in the past are just very bad because they are not telling you the truth.Because they just want to frustrate you out of the
effort of you receiving your funds so it can be diverted to their private banks.But I am willing to assist you if you can guarantee my security.
The only thing needed to release this fund is the Anti drug/terrorist clearance certificate which will be tendered to any of your nominated bank and the
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE(IRS)for clearance of the transfered amount in your
account.
Once the Anti drug /terrorist clearance certificate is obtained funds will immediately reflect in your bank within 10 Minutes,the certificate is all that
is needed to complete this transaction.The reason for these documents are due to the Terrorist crisis in the world today, the UNO had to monitor and make sure
all funds are terrorist free and clarified.
Note that the actual funds is valued at $15.5 MILLION USD and the president made a compensation fund release for all unpaid beneficiary valued at $10 million
usd.
Do get in touch with me immediately with my direct number +233545133959 to conclude this final transaction immediately,and also send to me your convenient tel/fax numbers for easy communications.I am only doing this so you can know the status of your funds and how you can get it.
Regards,
Mr. NANA MENSAH
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Anti-fraud resources:
