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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- emadyousef888@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "emdyo3@libero.it" <emdyo3@libero.it>
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 15:47:59 +0100 (CET)
Subject: Dear Friend
Dear Friend
Peace be with you, how are you and family hope all is well. I am Mr Emad
Yousef, the external auditor of a bank here in burkina-faso. I have the
courage to look for a reliable and honest person who will be capable to handle
the process of an important transaction with me. There is an account opened
and since I started auditing with this bank, nobody has operated on this
account, after going through some old files I discovered that if I do not remit
the money out urgently that it will be forfeited for nothing .
Kindly state your interest by sending your full name and phone number to my
private email emadyousef888@yahoo.com As soon as I hear from you I will send to
you the full details regarding the transfer of $19,000,000.00 (Nineteen Million
United State Dollars).
Thanks
Mr Emad Yousef
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Anti-fraud resources:
