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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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "hundred thousand united states 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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "foreignremmitdept@qq.com" (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.
Fraud email example:
From: "CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA (CBN)" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <foreignremmitdept@qq.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 19:31:09 +0100
Subject: CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA (CBN)
FROM THE DESK OF
DR. JOHN SMITH
DIRECTOR
FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERI (CBN)
REF NO: CBN/4500/08/13
DATE: 29TH AUGUST 2013
ATTENTION: SIR/MADAM
BENEFICIARY:
RE: THE TRANSFER OF YOUR INHERITANCE FUND OF THIRTEEN MILLION FIVE
HUNDERD THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS (US$13,500,000.00)
THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR INHERITANCE FUND HAS BEEN APPROVED
THIRTEEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS
(US$13,500,000.00) AND HAS BEEN REMITTED TO FIDELITY WORLDWIDE
INVESTMENT NEW YORK ON THE 23RD OF AUGUST 2013.
YOU ARE ADVISED TO CONTACT THE ACCOUNT OFFICER FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF
THE FUNDS TO YOU.
NAMES IN FULL:
YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS:
YOUR MOBILE TELEPHONE NUMBER:
YOUR HOME TELEPHONE NUMBER
YOUR OCCUPATION:
YOUR AGE:
NAME OF THE ACCOUNT OFFICER:
MR.THOMAS STEVENSON
EMAIL:
foreignremmitdept@qq.com
CONGRATULATIONS
THANKS,
YOURS SINCERELY,
DR. JOHN SMITH
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Anti-fraud resources:
