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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr Chang Long" <longc4724@gmail.com>
Reply-To: <longchang529@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2014 11:45:43 +0700
Subject: Re: I AWAIT YOUR PROMPT REPLY
Dear Friend,
My name is Mr. Chang Long, a Business Manager with Mega International Commercial Bank Cambodia here in Asia(Cambodia office). I am the chief account officer to Late Mr. Lam Kok a Chinese business tycoon who died in a helicopter crash in France while inspecting one of his new acquisitions. His account of US$18.4 million with us has been unclaimed due to unavailability of next of kin/relatives to claim his estate.
You can follow the link below to know more about our deceased customer: www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-25476662
In accordance with the es cheat laws in Cambodia as a kingdom, the Board of Directors of the bank met forth night ago and resolved to turn the estate of the deceased over to Government pause having waited for too long without the deceased relatives/next of kin surfacing property and if this is done, invariably, the funds will end up to become Government property.
In view of this, am seeking your cooperation and understanding to stand as the deceased next of kin to enable us claim the inheritance before the period given by the bank elapse. All I require is your honest co-operation and I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. Please accept my apologies and keep my confidence. At the end of the transfer you shall have 40% of the total amount.
I have the opportunity of making you the beneficiary to his deposited funds with our bank. I have all the details and required information to make you the beneficiary to the funds. Get back to me
with your telephone and fax numbers for easy communication and oral discussion for more details about the deal only if you are interested to actualize this deal with me.
Best Regards
Chang Long.
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Anti-fraud resources:
