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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:
- "waiting for your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "sani abacha" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "abbasabacha@qq.com" (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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Abbas Abacha" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <abbasabacha@qq.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2013 22:49:36 +0100
Subject: From Abbas Abacha
Greetings,
In appreciation of your esteemed contact and the choice of your country I wish to introduce myself name Abbas Abacha son of General Sani Abacha former president to my country Nigeria.
As you may be aware my father is late and have problems with Nigeria foreign Government have used the opportunity to seize all his assets and investments.I contacted you to assist me to move sum funds $10 millon us dollars to you since no other person have the knowledge of the existence funds in my position.
I will compensate you with 30% of the total fund at the end of the transaction after you have received the fund while 10% will be set aside for any expenses incurred waiting for your urgent response to give you more information and proceed accordingly.
Reply to my private abbasabacha@qq.com
Regards,
Abbas Abacha
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Anti-fraud resources:
