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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 united state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ministry Of Petroleum Resources" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <dkifasi1@yahoo.com.tw>
Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2013 06:54:51 +0800
Subject: RELEASE OF FUND ALERT....
From: Mr. Danladi Kifasi
Director: Ministry Of Petroleum Resources Payment
Remittance Center
ABUJA Nigeria
Dear Beneficiary,
This letter is from Ministry Of Petroleum Resources Payment Remittance Center a Financial Service Authority under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Finance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria/in Conjunction with the United States Of America Government.
This body was set up to discover and take over and reapropriate outstanding Accrued Interest from the crude oil transactions that was done with the NNPC (Nigeria National Petroleum Company) with foreign Companies and Individual contractors all over the world.
You are hereby informed that a part payment of (THIRTY SEVEN MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS (US$37M) has been approved yesterday.
It will interest you to know that this discovery is of utmost importance and a mandate has been given to this body, The Ministry Of Petroleum Resources Payment Remittance Center to ensure that this fund gets to you without any delay.
Note that a special payment arrangement has been made with our Escrow Agent to transfer the said fund to your Bank account or alternatively come in person to our office to receive the fund, and if you so desire .
You are hereby advised to urgently furnish this office with your detailed information to enable us open up communication with you regarding the release of your fund immediately.
The information required from you to enable us process your payment is as follows.
(1) Your Full Name:
(2) Residential Address:
(3) Phone, Fax and Cell Phone Number:
(4) Your Private Email address:
You are advised to contact us immediately with the above requested information for further details.
Thanks.
Yours Truly
Mr. Danladi Kifasi
Director:Ministry Of Petroleum Resources Payment
Remittance Center
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Anti-fraud resources:
