419 scam: "Mr Desmond Drewe"<mrdesmondrewed23@gmail.com> Ref: Beneficiary,

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:
- "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.
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +2348177101538
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.
- desmonddrewe.2010@yahoo.fr (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr Desmond Drewe" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <nfafetf.headofficeabuja@e-mail.ua>
Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2013 17:12:04 +0100
Subject: Ref: Beneficiary,

Nigeria Financial Anti Fraud Enforcement Task Force, (N.F.A.F.E.T.F.)
Ministry of Finance,
Abuja, Nigeria.
Direct Telephone: +234 8177101538

Confidential email from N.F.A.F.E.T.F.

Ref: Beneficiary,

This official email is from Nigeria Financial Anti Fraud Enforcement Task Force (N.F.A.F.E.T.F.). The task force was established in January 2013 by the new government to audit the accounts of banks, government agencies and ministries with the singular objective of identifying foreign funds trapped in the system which has not been paid to their rightful owners due to unfavorable Government policies.

As we carry out our legitimate duties in banks and ministries, we discovered several Millions in Foreign Currencies belonging to different nationals. We
presumed this to be an inheritance, compensations, contract payments or winnings payouts from lottery. We advise you to contact Nigeria Financial Anti Fraud Enforcement Task Force (N.F.A.F.E.T.F.) for your claims. Your fund is not in any bank in Europe, Asia or United States as you were made to believe by some people. Address your response to:

Mr Desmond Drewe
Nigeria Financial Anti Fraud Enforcement Task Force, (N.F.A.F.E.T.F.),
Ministry of Finance,
Abuja, Nigeria.
Direct Telephone: +234 8177101538
Reply only to this Email:desmonddrewe.2010@yahoo.fr

Send to us your telephone numbers, house address and inform us too how you wish to receive your trapped fund. Your fund could be paid to you through an ATM CARD, DRAFT OR WIRE TRANSFER. Also inform us how much you have spend in trying to process this payment. You have Three working days to respond to this request from the date of receipt of this email. Please note that due to email congestion, our email response to you be maybe delayed. You are therefore urged to call the aforementioned telephone number above for immediate attention.

Yours in service

Mr Desmond Drewe
Executive Director,
Nigeria Financial Anti Fraud Enforcement Task Force, (NFAFETF)
Ministry of Finance,
Abuja, Nigeria.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam