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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)
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: ABDUL WAHEED <privatebox196770@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: ABDUL WAHEED <abdul.waheed1965@yahoo.pt>
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 14:30:10 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Re; $7.9M Transaction VIA ATM MASTER CARD.
 DEAR FRIEND,
I AM MR ABDUL WAHEED MANAGER ZENITH BANK PLC I WRITE TO SOLICIT YOUR PARTNERSHIP TO RECEIVE THE SUM OF $7.9MILLION VIA (ATM) MASTER CARD BEING THE INHERITANCE FUND OF "LATE MICHAEL KHAN" A CITIZEN OF YOUR COUNTRY WHO WORKED WITH AN OIL COMPANY HERE THAT DIED WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY IN THE COLLAPSE OF HOTEL CHURCH BUILDING OF SYNAGOGUE CHURCH HERE IN NIGERIA.
THIS FUND IS IN OUR BANK ACCOUNT AND ONCE I RECEIVE YOUR MAIL TO ACCEPT THIS TRANSACTION I WILL IMMEDIATELY LOAD THE CARD WITH THE AFOREMENTIONED AMOUNT THAT THE DECEASED LEFT IN OUR BANK BEFORE HIS DEMISE.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY YOU RECEIVE THIS MAIL FOR MORE DETAILS.
BEST REGARDS,
ABDUL WAHEED
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Anti-fraud resources:
