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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- captainbensonpaul4545@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "paul" (may be fake)
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2013 20:23:13 +0100
Subject: Business proposal Urgent
Dear Sir/Madam
My Name is Smith Benson i hope all is well with you? After going
through your profile, I decided to contact you also need your
assistance. I am a soldier working as United Nations peace keeping
troop in Afghanistan, on war against terrorism. I have in my
possession the sum of $50million USD which I made here in Afghanistan
and I deposited this money with a Red Cross agent. I want you to stand
as my beneficiary and receive the fund and keep it safe so that as
soon as I through, you will assist me to invest it in a good
profitable venture, I will give you 30% of the total money for the
assistance after you have received the money. Reply to my email
address captainbensonpaul4545@yahoo.com
Regards
Captain
Smith Benson
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Anti-fraud resources:
