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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:
- "abuja" (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: "OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <intlfinancialmonitoringcommission@thepresidency-nig.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2013 02:53:29 -0000
Subject: YOUR OUTSTANDING INHERITANCE/CONTRACTS PAYMENT
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY
INT'L FINANCIAL MONITORING COMMISSION
FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY
ABUJA-NIGERIA.
SIR/MA,
THIS IS TO INTIMATE YOU ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANT OF YOUR OUTSTANDING INHERITANCE/CONTRACTS PAYMENT WHICH HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA
THROUGH OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY ON FOREIGN FINANCIAL MATTERS. IN LINE WITH THE MEETING HELD TODAY WITH THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN FINANCIAL MATTERS,THE
COMMISSION WAS MANDATED TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL FOREIGN BENEFICIARIES RECEIVES THEIR INHERITANCE/CONTRACTS PAYMENTS IN FULL WITHOUT ANY FURTHER INTERFERENCE.
YOU ARE REQUIRED TO RE-CONFIRM YOUR MEANS OF IDENTIFICATION SUCH AS:- FIRST 3 PAGES OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT OR DRIVERS LICENSE FOR ONWARD PRESENTATION
TO THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTION ASSIGNED TO HANDLE YOUR PAYMENT VALUED AT US$1.3M.
THANKS.
MALLAM GABRIEL KADUNA
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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Anti-fraud resources:
