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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "your payment is being processed" (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)
- "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: "James Aayan Ali" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <lyjames06@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2014 05:35:44 -0500
Subject: Re; Congratulations!!
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am James A. Ali, Bill and Exchange Manager/ Secretary General, Head of the World Bank Finance Group Branch, Malaysia. It was resolved and approved after the Board meetings with United Nation Organization authorities to release all outstanding payment waiting for transfer. Your details has been confirmed with the instruction and approvals given from United Nation in regards of your funds.
The sum of US$10,000,000.00 (Ten Million United States Dollars) has been approved in your favor. I therefore wish to inform you that your payment is being processed directly via personal online bank. If you do not comply with the ( F.P.A.O)-Foreign Payment Authorization Order within 72 hours your funds will be confiscated and returned back to the Word bank Treasury Account.
You are hereby advised to reconfirm the below listed information to enable us facilitate an immediate payment for you:
1 Your full names
2 Your present contact address.
3 Your telephone & Fax numbers.
4 Your Occupations/age/sex.
5 Your Private Email Address.
Best Regards.
James Aayan Ali (Secretary-General)
World Bank Group.
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Anti-fraud resources:
