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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:
- "million united states 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Diplomat David Ali" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <munachalik0980@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 9 May 2014 09:06:08 -0700
Subject: Urgent Await Your Reply
Hello
My Name is David Ali a U.S Citizen i reside in Boston New york, USA and also work as a Special Diplomat.
I have tried several means to contact you without success to notify you concerning your ATM CARD Package which is in our custody.
The origin of this payment was from your unpaid Email Selection Online Lottery winning released and approved by the Finance Ministry of Nigeria.
After scanning and checking of document the ATM Card contain USD$15,000,000.00 (fifteen Million United States Dollars) which you will use to withdraw and make Transaction in any ATM SERVICE MACHINE in any part of the world,but the maximum you can withdraw in a day is USD$15,000.00 Only.
We want you to understand that the delivery service charges have been paid by the U.S Embassy Consulate who instructed me to deliver the package on your behalf.
Await your reply if you are ready to receive your package to enable me board the Next International Flight and claim the package on your behalf.
Diplomat David Ali
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Anti-fraud resources:
