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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:
- "ecowas " (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: "Mr. Michael Lafont" <out@controlbox.net>
Reply-To: <milatcnf014@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2014 04:32:33 -0800
Subject: Bank Transaction (Pls treat as urgent) 12*8*2014
Auditor-General Administration and Finance ECO=
WAS Commission www.ecowas.int Greeting's Dear . Subje=
ct: Requesting your cooperation to transfer Fifteen Million United States =
dollars investment funds to your bank account. I am the Consultant Aud=
itor-General of the ECOWAS Commission, I got your contact through the West =
African Free Trade Database internet portal in my search of a reliable and =
trustworthy foreign partner and I hope we can work closely together if we c=
an reach a mutual agreement between us. I am seeking your sincere coop=
eration to move the aforementioned funds to your country for private invest=
ment because the ECOWAS Public Service Code of Conduct Bureau highly prohib=
its any public officeholder from operating a foreign bank account or privat=
e investment while in active service. By virtue of my status as the Head of=
the Audit Department, I would sincerely wish to confidentially establish a=
n investment partnership with you prior to my retirement from public servic=
e by mid 2016. On completion of the transfer of the investment fund to=
a safe bank account in your country, you will be entitled to deduct 10% of=
the total fund to compensate your efforts while 5% of the total funds will=
be mapped out to cover all envisaged expense including tax, and the remain=
ing 85% will be invested in lucrative areas that has high return on investm=
ent pending my official retirement and subsequent visit to meet personally =
with you in your country. We shall discuss further details as soon as=
I receive your reply, is rest assured that this transaction is 100% risk-f=
ree. The funds will be transferred via swift without any breach of internat=
ional financial law. Best regards, Mr. Michael Lafont
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