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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.
- 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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- 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.
- angelobenson@engineer.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: ANN -VICKI ROBIN <ericmason651@yahoo.ca> (may be fake)
Reply-To: angelobenson@engineer.com
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2014 20:33:29 +0100
Subject: CONTACT ANGELO B. NDIVE
--
DEAR FRIEND,
THIS IS TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORT I UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR HANDS WERE
TIED, NOT TO WORRY. I HAVE SUCCEEDED AND THE MONEY HAS BEEN
TRANSFERRED INTO THE ACCOUNT PROVIDED BY A NEWLY FOUND FRIEND OF MINE
IN AUSTRALIA, TO APPRECIATE YOUR PAST ASSISTANCE AND COMMITMENTS I
HAVE DROPPED AN AUTOMATIC TELLER
MACHINE (ATM CARD) OF $1.5MILLION FOR YOU. I AM NOW IN HOSPITAL FOR
TREATMENT OF CANCER WHICH I DON'T KNOW MY STATUS IN FUTURE, PLEASE
REMEMBER TO PAY 10% TO CHARITY ORGANIZATION AND REMAINING BALANCE IS
FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.
CONTACT : ANGELO NDIVE
WITH BELOW INFORMATION TO ENABLE HIM DELIVERY THE ATM TO YOU
CONTACT PERSON: ANGELO NDIVE
EMAIL: angelobenson@engineer.com
FORWARD MY MAIL TO HIM, AND THEN ASK HIM TO SEND THE ATM CARD TO YOU
AND PROVIDE HIM THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION.
YOUR FULLNAME________________________
YOUR ADDRESS_____________________
YOUR COUNTRY________________________
YOUR AGE___________________________
YOUR OCCUPATION___________________
YOUR PHONE NUMBER___________________
TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR SELFAND MORE BLESS.
REGARDS,
MRS. ANN -VICKI ROBIN
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Anti-fraud resources:
