419 scam: "Johnson Smith (rtd)"<johnson.smith1101@yahoo.com.hk> My name is Col.Johnson Smith (rtd) and this is an urgent business invitation f

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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.
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:
- "the consignment" (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)
- "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)
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.
- johnson.smith894@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Johnson Smith (rtd)" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <smithjohnson218@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 17:10:32 -0000
Subject: My name is Col.Johnson Smith (rtd) and this is an urgent business invitation from Libya.

For Your Attention,

The Managing Director/CEO,

REF: Rebuilding Libya - VARIOUS SUPPLIES CONTRACT

Sir,

My name is Col.Johnson Smith (rtd) and this is an urgent business invitation from Libya. My benefactor at the new American controlled Libya ministry has mandated me to seek for your cooperation in a multi million dollars worth deal. It happened that we signed supply contract on Building/Medical/Textile and General equipments and some of the contracts were inflated which after duly certified and the contracts assigned we have a surplus of US$58Million. Having access to pay this contractors by way of crude oil equivalent or raw cash recovered from some of late dictator's ( Col. Gaddafi's) assets, we choose to subtract this excess bills which we inflated in the contracts.I moved the consignments funds via diplomatic means to a country called Federal Republic Ghana-Accra in a bank vault. Please if you can assist us, then kindly contact me via My E-mail: johnson.smith894@yahoo.co.uk

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO SEND INFORMATION ONLY DETAILING YOUR DIRECT TELEPHONE,FAX NUMBER AND EMAIL based on your company abilities.

As soon as I receive the above information, I shall get back to you with all details pertaining to this transaction.

Regards,

Johnson Smith (rtd)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam