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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Hoshyar Zebari" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <hoshyar.zebari222@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2015 18:22:38 -0500
Subject: Trust Bestowed On You......
Dear Sir/Madam,
Greetings. I wish to take this opportunity to inform you that one of our contractors that I helped to secure and facilitate a contract here in Iraq has received his contract payment and wants to compensate me for assisting him. I cannot receive the money in my bank account here in Iraq due to my position as the Minister of Finance, as my bank account is monitored on a regular basis by the government. You know that before assumption of office, all government functionaries are compel to declare their assets. In view of this, any money that enters my bank account apart from my regular monthly salary must be accounted for and it is
illegal for any government official here in Iraq to participate or influence contract procurement. It is as the result of this that I am appealing to you to receive my commission from the contractor for safe-keep it until I decides on what to do with it thereafter. You will take 20% of the total money that you will receive from the contractor for your assistance and keep the rest for me. If you are willing to handle this for me then get back to me with your below
details:
Your Full Name:
Contact Address:
Occupation:
Direct Cellphone Number:
Age:
In receiving the aformentioned details of you I will give you further directive on how the payment will be released to you.
I wait your urgent response.
Best Regards,
Mr. Hoshyar Zebari
Minister of Finance Iraq.
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Anti-fraud resources:
