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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: Salam Traore <salam.traore@gmail.com>
Reply-To: salam_traore0002@yahoo.fr
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 12:09:47 +0000
Subject: I need your urgent ans pls.
Dear Friend,
I am a banker in BOA BANK.I have a Business proposal of US$10.5Million
for you. The fund belong to our deceased customer who died with his
next of kin leaving nobody for the claim. I want to present you as his
next of kin to my bank so that the fund will be transfer to your bank
account.I intend to give you 40% of the total amount, 50% will be for
me and 10% for any expenses the may accrued during the transaction. I
do need to stress that there are practically no risk involved in this.
If you accept this offer, I will appreciate your timely response and
this transaction is CONFIDENTIAL. For further details upon your
acceptance of this offer.
With Regards,
Mr. Salam Traore
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Anti-fraud resources:
