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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:
- "good day friend" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Peter John <peter.john005@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: john_peter00dr@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 15:59:44 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: REPLY NOW
Good Day Friend.
I wish to transfer some money to your custody for investment in your country. The owner of the genuine funds is Mr. Alcock Samer Hamarneh from your country who became my client in 2003.The reason I am making this contact to you is that my client did not know his parent because he was picked up from near lagoon as he was told by a Good Philanthropist, late widow and industrialist that brought him up. He INHERITED substantial amount which he deposited with our firm for re-investment but unfortunately my client died while undergoing Long QT Syndrome diagnoses.
There is NO family to inherit this fund. As the account officer, the management is on my neck to provide them with Beneficiary else the funds will be confiscated to treasury. After taken critical look on the situation of things I decided the money should go back the deceased part of the country for establishment to assist less privilege.
Contact me immediately for more details if you are interested.
Regards,
Sr.John Peter.
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Anti-fraud resources:
