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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:
- "dr. sanusi" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "debtreconciliation1@yahoo.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "DrSanusi Lamido" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <cnbnkng@rediffmail.com>
Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2013 23:11:04 -0800
Subject: THE OUT COME OF OUR MEETING TODAY
Attention Honorable beneficiary
Base on the meeting today with The President of Federal Republic of Nigeria Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR) and the Senate committee on debt reconciliation, we have came to a conclusion to pay you your overdue fund of $5.7 immediately therefore I Dr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, The governor central bank of Nigeria would like you to reconfirm the following information to enable transfer your fund into your account without any further delay
Your name,
Your address
Your phone number,
Your occupation
Country and city
Your bank name and address
Your account number
Your account swift code and routing number
Be informed that your fund will be transferred into your account from Central bank of Nigeria through telegraphic transfer. In case you prefer any other means of transfer please do not hesitate to indicate in your reply. For more information please call me on my HOT-LINE +234-810-063-8894. Please send your reply to debtreconciliation1@yahoo.cn. Thank you and God bless you.
Yours sincerely
MR SANUSI LAMIDO
Governor central bank of
Nigeria (CBN)
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Anti-fraud resources:
