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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:
- "death certificate" (this phrase is often used in inheritance scams such as next of kin or https://www.419scam.org/419-murdered-businessman.htm">orphan scams. )
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "mrcaltontama.bsic@e-mail.ua" (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.
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ms Hilder Benson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrcaltontama.bsic@e-mail.ua>
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 00:43:59 -0800
Subject: CONFIRM AFFIRMATIVE IMMEDIATELY.
I have been mandated by the ministry of finance Benin republic and the ECOWAS court of justice to confirm the information received from the BSIC bank headquarters France and there affiliate payment bank in Benin republic of your death (claims).
Two people in the person of Justin Seaman and Donna Seaman applied for your fund in the bank for the payment of your $4.3musd as your next of kin and the bank came to the ministry of finance and the regional court to record the death certificate they presented for approval and immediate payment.
Confirm affirmative with the bank by email or phone call to the bank contact below:
Email: mrcaltontama.bsic@e-mail.ua
Phone: 00229 6787 1855
Contact person: BSIC Bank director
You must contact them for clarification within 48 hours or the Ministry of finance and the regional court will approve the death certificate for immediate payment of your fund to the person’s mentions as your next of kin above.
Regards,
Ms. serah Hilder
Secretary to the ECOWAS court of justice and representative of UN to the ECOWAS
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Anti-fraud resources:
