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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "into your nominated bank account" (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)
- "your urgent reply" (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: Aisha Ghaddafi <ghaddafia@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 6 May 2014 23:14:44 +0100
Subject: Dear Trusted Friend
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Dear Trusted Friend,
Let this message not surprise you, I am contacting you due to the
problem of my family and country since the problem of my country and
the killing of my beloved father due to political crisis in Libya.
I am Aisha Gadaffi, I am currently residing in one of the AFRICAN
country unfortunately as a refugee. Some of our investments and bank
accounts in several countries have been freeze.
Insha Allahu, I will make you a part of my family heritage, if you can
help me out at this difficult time of my life. All I need from you is
for you to open your mind to help me as you may be requiring to go to
Dubai or Malaysia for this business meeting.
I have some big sums of money in the banks which await the transfer
and delivery to a partners account abroad. All you will do is have
good trust and confidence in me and i will give you details and how
the arrangement will be to transfer all my money to your bank
accounts. I don't want any body to know about this or my accounts will
be freeze. There is an international conspiracy to seize our family
accounts/investments around the world.
If you are interested to assist me in this regards kindly get back to
me as soon as possible for more details on how to proceed. Moreso i
needed to say that I will compensate you handsomely with about 30% of
the funds once the transfer is effected into your nominated bank
account.
Please get back to me for more detail and make sure you keep this
issue strictly confidential for my own safety as my father and brother
have gone just like that.
Your urgent reply means a lot to me and make sure you reply through
this email address; (aisha_ghaddafi@barid.com)
Yours Sincerely,
Aisha Gaddafi.
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Anti-fraud resources:
