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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 us 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)
- "maryam abacha" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "sani abacha" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: MARYAM ABACHA <peterudong2000@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mariamabacha28@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2014 12:15:56 -0700
Subject: I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE
How are you today and business in your country? I am Mrs.Maryam Abacha
Wife to the late military head of state of Nigeria General Sani
Abacha.I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this
mail confidential and respect the integrity of the information you
come by as a result of this mail.I would like to intimate you with
certain information's that I believe would be of interest to you. I
know you would be wondering why I am writing you with a
request such as this but I only urge you to read on. Due to a travel
embargo and security network placed on my family we cannot travel
abroad,and the funds i want to talk to you about is in deposited in
one of the contries in Europe. My late husband before he died
deposited $10.3 million US dollars in a security firm which name is
withheld for now,until we open communication and you confirm that you
are willing to assist us.I will be grateful if you could represent
us at the security company and collect the funds. This arrangement is
known to my son Mohammed alone.We offer you 15% of the entire funds if
you accept our proposal. Upon your response, if favourable, we shall
then provide you with more details and relevant information that will
help you get full understanding of the transaction. I will appreciate
it if you send us your full names and address, confidential telephone
for easier communication and consider carefully in you really want to
assist a widow and her son.
Sincerely yours,
Mrs. Maryam Abacha
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Anti-fraud resources:
