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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 us 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.
Fraud email example:
From: Brian Moynihan <microdidattici@alice.it>
Reply-To: bankofamerica_nc@kimo.com
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 17:30:53 +0100 (CET)
Subject: Bank of America Online Bank Department.
This is to inform you that your Federal Government approved funds worth several
Million US Dollars was transferred here into our Bank from Africa. The
Government is planning to transfer your funds into the USA Government Treasury
Account if we do not hear from you within the the next 7-days. We intend to
transfer your funds to you via our Online Banking Transfer System. You are to
reply urgently with your full Banking information.
All these are needed before the the transfer to avoid wrong transfer. We shall
open an Online Account for you and then transfer your funds directly to your
Bank Account over there in your Bank.
Regards,
Brian T. Moynihan
CEO, Bank of America.
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Anti-fraud resources:
