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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 pounds" (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.
Fraud email example:
From: Mr David Ahmed <davidahmed1@voila.fr>
Reply-To: mrdavid_ahmed@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2013 10:36:48 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Good Day To You,
Good Day To You, My Name is Mr.David Ahmed; I am a banker by profession. I am from
Ouagadougou, BurkinaFaso, West Africa. My reason for contacting you is
to transfer an abandoned fund 2.6million pounds to your account if you
agree with me. The owner of this fund died since 2004 with his Next Of Kin. I want to
present you to the bank as the Next of Kin/beneficiary of this fund.
Further details of the transaction shall be forwardto you as soon as
I receive your response indicating your interest in handling this transaction.
But if you are interested reply immediately with your
information below;
1)Full names:.............................
(2)Private phone number:..................
(3)Current residential address:...........
(4)Your Country:..........................
(5)Occupation:............................
(6)Age and Sex:..........................
(7)Religion..............................
(8)Photo Or International Passport Photo..
(10)Private E-mail........................
Have a great day,
Mr.David Ahmed
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Anti-fraud resources:
