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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:
- "million 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)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "lagos" (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: "Remy" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <reminelson3@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2012 05:40:34 -0800
Subject: Good Day Sir!!
From The Office of the Deputy Governor
Central Bank Of Nigeria
Victoria Island Lagos-Nigeria
Good Day,
This is to notify you that the Federal Government of Nigeria in collaboration with the Central bank of Nigeria has mapped out the sum of US$300 Billion Dollars to compensate all scam victims. To this effect a list of
all scam victims have been compiled by a special committee set up by the Federal Government for this purpose. This exercise shall be carried out in
three phases.
Under this scheme, each victim in the list shall receive the sum of US$2 Million Dollars as compensation. The said amount shall be loaded into an ATM Visa Card that shall be issued in favor of all respective beneficiaries
of the scheme for immediate withdrawal of funds. Alternatively, an online
withdrawal with a nominated Bank.
Your contact details happen to be in the list of the first phase of this exercise hence we are contacting you. You are therefore advised to re-confirm your detail information as specified below to avoid sending your
card to the wrong person.
Details Of Scam Victims Beneficiary Only.
Your Full name:..................................
Your Full home address:......................
Your Direct telephone numbers:.........
Your Cell/Mobile:................................
Country of Origin:...............................
Your Profession:.................................
Your Age:...........................................
Sex....................................................
Occupation:.......................................
A scan copy of your ID
Upon the receipt of your full contact details as stated above, we will
process your ATM Visa Card legally and dispatch to your mailing address or Online transfer if you so wish..
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Yous Faithfully,
Nelson Remmy
For Deputy Governor
Central Bank Of Nigeria
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Anti-fraud resources:
