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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:
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a orphan scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mathew Gabriel" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mattew_gabriel@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2014 05:35:05 -0600
Subject: PLEASE YOUR IMMIDIATE REPONSE WILL HELP US
Good day.
I know you will be skeptical about contacting you. I came across your contact and I became interested in you and also want to know you better. My name is Mathew Gabriel, I am 21 years old boy and a student from South Africa but I an my parents live in Nigeria, my late father was the former Managing Director of Chevron Oil Company in Nigeria before he was killed by the insurgence rebel called Boko-Haram on date May 12, 2009.
Before the death of my father, he let me know that he had deposited into a fixed account in a bank here for my schooling and up-keeping when I am old enough to take care of myself.
Now, since my father is late and my Father's friend who stand as a guadian to me now sit on top of the money and has refused to release it to me for the purpose which my Father kept the money for. He want to inherit my fathers wealth for himself and I am the only child. Now the bank manager in control of the fund advice me to seek for a foreign contact to assist me to transfer the fund into overseas account. So I kindly seek your help in claiming this funds from the Bank and invest it into a business in your country while you shall also help me get a visa into your country so that I can further my education. This transaction is 100% risk free.
I shall send you the Bank manager's contact details as my late father's business partner overseas. The total sum is $4.7m I confide in you that you would be kind and help me after the funds gets to your account. We will also reach an agreement on the sharing of the fund. 60% goes to me while 30% goes to you and the remaining 10% we use it to compensate the Bank manager and any expenses we must have made on the process.
I want you to reply me immediately if you wish to assist me and also send me your telephone number in your reply so that I can call you for more explanation.
Thanks a lot and God Bless you as I wait for your immediate response.
Sincerely.
Mathew Gabriel.
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Anti-fraud resources:
