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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:
- "lome togo" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a orphan scam.
Fraud email example:
From: HONESTY PLEASE <cooperate.products@gmail.com>
Reply-To: sulemanabra@rediff.com
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2013 15:57:11 +0200
Subject: Honesty Please
Attention
It is my pleasure to contact you for a business venture which I intend
to establish in your country. Though I have not met with you before
but I believe, one has to risk confiding in succeed sometimes in life.
There is this huge amount (€9.500, 000, 00) Million Euros which my late
Father kept with a Fiduciary Fund Holder in Lome Togo before his
Death.
Now I have decided to invest this money in your country or anywhere
safe enough outside Africa for security and political reasons. I want
you to help me claim and retrieve these fund from the Fiduciary Fund
Holders and transfer it into your personal account in your country for
investment purposes on these areas:
1). Telecommunication
2). The Transport Industry
3). Five Star Hotel
I am honourably seeking your assistance in the following ways:
1) To provide a bank account into which this money would be transferred to .
(2) To serve as a guardian of this fund.
(3) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country to further
my education and to secure a resident permit in your country
If you can be of assistance to me I will be pleased to offer you
30% of the total fund. I await your soonest response.
Contact me here sulemanabra@rediff.com
Yours Sincerely,
Mr Suleman Abraham
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Anti-fraud resources:
